


A Coven of Misfits

by celestia193, SilverKitsune2017



Category: Naruto
Genre: Demons, F/M, Ghosts, M/M, Magic, Magic Circles, Magic Lubricant, Magic Vodka, Samhain, Wicca, nature spirits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-05-19 12:55:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 39,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14874140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestia193/pseuds/celestia193, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverKitsune2017/pseuds/SilverKitsune2017
Summary: Life was simple for the small Uchiha coven. Eat, sleep, work, sit down for some quality family time, and try not to blow up their home with magic curry. But when the trio meet a foxy blond with a coven of his own, they get an invitation to a Samhain feast they'll never forget. While shadows linger and magic fills the air, Sasuke finds himself the happy prey of a golden-haired fox.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> celestia193's Author's Note: Okay, so a lot of research is going into this fic, and we're going to try and incorporate as many traditional Wiccan beliefs and practice as possible, and mix it up with some traditional and modern views of witchcraft (which are two different things, yes, I know, but they mesh together so well that it makes it more exciting to incorporate both).
> 
> That said, if you do happen to be a practicing Wiccan, I would love to hear your suggestions on what rituals and traditions to include in this fic.

It had been a very, very long day. But Itachi didn't mind it, not when it meant he could go home to his lover and little brother every night. Not when it meant that they could have the peace they wanted. When it meant that they could all be together and not have to look over their shoulders just to see disapproval and anger in eyes that were supposed to be filled with love and acceptance.

They had love and acceptance enough for each other.

"Sasuke, Shisui, I'm home." He could smell the thick scent of stew on the stove the moment he walked in the door, and he knew immediately that his lover was home. He chuckles softly as he takes off his shoes and hangs up his jacket. Shisui always had been the best cook of the three of them.

Sasuke looks up from slicing up various vegetables and smiles at Itachi. "Hey." Shisui might have been the master chef, but Sasuke could handle slicing and dicing and he needed a break from reading mostly poorly written or mediocre book reports.

At twenty-five, he was on the young side to be a teacher. That didn't matter though. Sasuke had gotten lucky that Kakashi had decided to retire from teaching to pursue his true passion of writing. So he was now, he was a rather young elementary school teacher. He specialized in history.

He wouldn't touch high school students with a ten foot pole. "It should be ready in a little bit." Sasuke wasn't THAT old. He could remember what most high school students did in their their free time and what kind of thoughts filled their mostly deviant minds during their various classes. "Just don't get too close or Shisui might hex you." Needless to say, he'd stick to elementary school students. Their bad habits were easier to break and they were generally cuter.

Itachi chuckles as he settles himself into the living room to watch them at their cooking. "Very well, I'll wait until later to grope Shisui." Though he did note that there was quite the stack of homework sitting on the coffee table. Sasuke must have assigned another book report. He picks up the one on top of the stack and takes up an erasable red pen and starts making small notes here and there for Sasuke to use as references later. "Though it will be difficult to restrain myself, I promise I will do my best."

Shisui shakes his head in amusement. "How considerate of you." Though he knew that Sasuke would likely end up hexing Itachi instead. Sasuke was just as territorial about his job as Shisui was about cooking. "I look forward to it."

Sasuke gives Itachi a dirty look. He wasn't a little kid anymore. He didn't need Itachi to do 'his' homework for him. Even if Sasuke was now grading someone else's homework. It was the principle of the thing. "Itachi, I appreciate it and all, but I can handle it." He snorts and shakes his head. "Besides, you're probably already exhausted from working late anyway."

"Don't give me that look, Sasuke. I just finished grading my own stack of exams. The least I can do is make a few simple notes To help speed your work while the two of you cook dinner." Itachi brushes off Sasuke's glare with a smile. "And it will help to keep my hands busy and off of Shisui."

It wasn't often that Itachi stayed too terribly late, but it could get exhausting to be on his feet for six hours a day, lecturing students his brother's age, especially when he had to leave for the university at seven in the morning. "At least there is a comfortable couch to sit on here. My office isn't nearly so nice." Though he tried to make it nice, it was just that each professor was only accorded so much room.

Shisui chuckles at that. It was nice to know that he was that much of a temptation for Itachi, but he could see that his beloved was exhausted. Maybe Sasuke had the right idea about teaching younger students instead of university students. Sure, the pay was less than what Itachi made, but the stress was also a lot taxing.

"Well, you're fortunate that all we had to do was drop the rest of the vegetables in and let it stew a bit longer." He smiles and sits in Itachi's lap. "After we eat, maybe I'll give you a massage and a calming spell or something of that nature."

"That would be nice." Itachi puts down the third of the reports and circles his arms around Shisui's waist. "I'm sorry, October is always like this. Midterms are as painful for us as they are for our students." Still, he had looked forward to what the students in his philosophy classes thought of the classics thus far, and he couldn't honestly say that he was disappointed with their progress. "And December will be even worse. But I have my lesson plans ready until finals, so it should ease for a little while."

"Maybe I should figure out how to get you a cloning spell for your present this year." Sasuke tries not to flinch at the mere mention of December.

He loved the holidays as much as the next guy, but it was complete chaos for teachers. It didn't matter what level they taught at.

"Perhaps. But the grades will all be in before the solstice, so I'll have a short reprieve for the holidays before the next semester starts." Itachi reaches up, the fingers of his left hand dancing up Shisui's side and up to his neck to pull his lover into a gentle kiss. His other hand, however, wanders south to Shisui's backside and cups it in strong fingers.

Shisui smiles as he returns the affectionate gesture. That was when Sasuke walks over to the stove, turns it off, promptly gets himself a bowl, and makes a tactical retreat. It was probably a smart move on his part.

"That's good to know." He smiles knowingly at his beloved. "For Christmas we should find him his own little playmate." Sasuke had never seemed all that interested in dating for one reason or another. Maybe, he was just waiting for another magical user that took his fancy and didn't feel like advertising his status as a Wiccan. "Anyway, I imagine you're hungry. So you can have the stew now and dessert later."

"Yes...I suppose we could look for a playmate for Sasuke." Itachi smirks, his lover washing away his exhaustion with his presence alone. "And it would be bad manners for me to spoil my dinner by having dessert first. You did go to the trouble of making that lovely stew." But that didn't mean he couldn't at least get a snack before dinner. He captures Shisui's lips once more, squeezing the older man tightly in his arms. "And I do love Fridays, because I have time to get extra dessert after a long week."

* * *

"Okay, that was box number...uh..." At this point, Naruto was pretty sure they'd brought in over a hundred boxes of everyone's stuff, if only because of how much his arms hurt four hours later. And they still hadn't unpacked more than the kitchen and living room. Everyone was going to have to deal with their own bed and bath stuff, because this blond Wiccan was just about ready to drop dead.

But hey, maybe he'd be able to come back for Samhain in a couple of weeks.

"Gaara, how many more boxes do we have to bring in?" They'd had to get four whole moving vans for this shit. Who knew that moving out of the college dorms and to a new city was going to be so hard?

"A lot." Gaara shakes his head and smiles at him. "When it gets darker, we'll use some magic to speed it up." There was a lot of stuff, but he didn't want to risk a regular person seeing floating boxes during daylight hours. They could get away with it at night though.

"Ugh..." Naruto hated moving boxes. It was so boring and repetitive and...and...the reason he was doing it was because he had by far the most stamina in his whole coven. He'd barely taken a rest in he whole four hours, even when half of the boxes needed to go upstairs to the second floor where the single people slept. The couples had staked out the first floor. Not that anyone one the second floor was planning on staying single, it was just easier that way since the bottom floor's rooms had more boxes going into them.

Still, this was a nice house and for a decent price, considering they'd all pooled their savings together to get it. With twelve bedrooms and. Almost all of them occupied, theirs was a full house indeed. But they needed the room for their merry band of misfits. After all, there was a mountain of reasons that brought them all together.

Naruto bends over another stack of boxes, picking up two of them in lightly muscled but deceptively strong arms. "Well, let's at least try to get as much stuff moved in while Tenten and Neji are making dinner." A power couple in the house and the kitchen, underestimating those two was a big mistake for anyone dumb enough to do it.

"Yes, that would be advised." The red head continues carrying boxes inside the house with a renewed sense of purpose. "This will work, Naruto." It had to.

"I know." Naruto sighs and heads for the door with his own burden. "We're okay now, everything is going to be fine." No, he had to be better than that. He grins widely and looks up at the huge house. "It's going to be great. We're out of college, we're free, and we're going to have a blast here."

With renewed spirit, he bolts towards the door, ignoring the burning in his arms as he nudges his back into the door. It swings open and he's hit with a wave of sound and scent that nearly overwhelms his enhanced senses.

Moving in was in full swing, and Naruto cracks a real smile upon seeing his coven milling about, putting things away and getting everything they needed set up. "Hey Sakura, Kiba, how are those protective runes coming?" They needed to fortify the house against the many people who might want to hurt them. Gaara's father, Neji and Hinata's family, and ghosts from his own past, to name but a few. The protective wards to shield them from being spied on and cursed were a must.

Kiba grins at him. "They're coming along great." He might be a Wiccan, but he had really sharp canines. He could almost be mistaken for a vampire, if it weren't for the impish nature of him. "Should be done in a few minutes."

"Once we're done with the basic protective wards, I'll see about setting up some more complex sensory wards." Let it never be said that Sakura didn't take her job seriously. She was the best rune-binder in the coven, and if she wanted to keep bad people out, then they were going to stay the hell out of her house.

"Great!" Naruto grins as he plops another box down in the dining room, then pokes his head into the kitchen to see Neji and Tenten hard at work. "Smells good. Are we having chicken curry for dinner?" He licks his lips at the thought of food, shooting them both a foxy grin.

Neji nods as he stirs the curry. "Of course. We figured it was best to celebrate our new home in style." And that meant cooking up a huge pot of food, even if that meant that he had to constantly duck and dodge pieces of meat and vegetables being hurled at the pot by his girlfriend's telekinesis. His ability to successfully dodge Tenten's impeccable aim led to his roommates accusing him of having eyes in the back of his head. He never denied it.

Awesome, Naruto loved his chicken curry. "And Lee is still out scouting the area with Shino, right?" They'd only just arrived, so it was better to get the lay of the land before settling in too much and getting complacent.

Tenten flips around a knife as big as her head and tosses a few chopped up carrots into the pot ten feet away, grown courtesy of Ino, and forcing her boyfriend to duck to avoid getting smacked with the orange chunks. "Yep, those two should be done pretty soon, they left hours ago. And the curry should be done soon, too. You can let everyone know that dinner will be ready in an hour!" That was a couple more ticks off their five foot long checklist. Though she couldn't wait to be settled in. She'd missed all her cooking knives so much. At least this place had a kitchen that could actually hold them all!

"Alright, I'll give them all a holler once I get some more of these damn boxes in!" Great, everything was going just as planned. Now if only the sun would set faster, Naruto wanted to whip some magic out back outside and get the rest of this stuff unpacked without outing all of their crazy magic powers to their new neighbours.

* * *

As soon as Shino and Lee walk back in the door, Naruto waves them over to the giant dining room with fifteen chairs scattered haphazardly around a long oak table. "Welcome home you guys! Did you bring back souvenirs!?"

Shino pushes up his glasses, peering at their fearless leader boredly. "We weren't out there to pick up souvenirs. We were out there to do a magical scan." Honestly, what did people think his bug swarms were FOR? "I detected no immediate threats in the area, and it seems that no spies managed to follow us here." Not that they should have been able to, given the false trail they'd left behind while their coven escaped to the other side of the planet.

"That's right!" Lee grins at them. "It's all very youthful so far." Which was good. If Danzo found them, things would get unyouthful in a hurry. The man was such a fossil.

"Great, that means it's finally time to eat, so sit your butts down!" Ino grins as she reaches out with her magic, twisting vines around her not so unsuspecting victims, and dragging them over to the dinner table. "We can worry about all the other stuff in the morning. Now, it's time to finally relax a little."

Kiba's possessed pet demon dog barks loudly, his tongue hanging joyfully out of his mouth. Well, maybe demon was a mean way of putting it, but it was what had gotten Kiba kicked out of his old coven and sent on the run. Some people just really didn't know the difference between a demon, and a nature spirit that turned your tiny pet dog into a giant wolfhound.

Gaara shakes his head. "You know you could have just told them to sit down." Why the woman had to show off her vines for that was beyond him. "I suppose that if I followed your excellent example, you could get some sand in rather awkward places though."

Half the table shudders at the thought of just where Gaara could get that sand. But Naruto just laughs and wiggles his eyebrows at his friend. "It's fine, it's not like you can't get it back out once it's in."

"Naruto!" Sakura rolls her eyes and waves her spoon threateningly. "We do NOT need to hear that at the dinner table. Some of us are trying to eat, you know!"

Gaara blinks at that. He wasn't entirely sure if Naruto had just hit on him or if Naruto was being Naruto. "I'm not into blond." He shrugs as he pours himself a generous shot of whiskey. "Probably because of Temari."

"But I am." Sai tilts his head, smiling serenely. "And I'm fine with hearing more about the places where Dickless could get that sand."

"Sai!" Ino's vines surround the pale artist menacingly while Naruto cackles across the table. "Quit trying to get into Naruto's pants!"

Gaara would argue that if Sai really wanted to seduce Naruto, he might want to give the blond a better nickname, but whatever. He shakes his head and goes back to eating.

"Sai is always doing that." Neji rolls his eyes. "It's just part of his charming personality. It's best to just ignore it."

Oh, Ino knew that, but that didn't mean she had to like it when her boyfriend hit on other people. Mostly Naruto. ...Okay, really just Naruto, but still! Wasn't she enough busy blonde for him? Sure, Naruto was really...really good in the sack, but still... Hm...okay, maybe the idea had a little merit, as long as she got some of that action too.

Shikamaru watches the growing chaos lazily. "Look out, Naruto. I think Ino is getting some troublesome ideas..."

"Yeah, maybe." But Naruto wouldn't have these guys any other way. "I can handle it, though. Besides, it's been way too long since the last time we cut loose and had fun. And we've still got to get ready for our Samhain festival, too."

"Probably." Temari shakes her head as she kisses Shikamaru's cheek. "At least you're too lazy to drool over other people."

"I'm okay with that. Too much work to drool." Shikamaru pokes at his half-eaten food before pushing his plate over to Chouji. "Here, I'm full. You can eat the rest for me."

"Mm, alright." Chouji nations widely as he pulls the plate over and dumps the rest of the curry onto his own nearly empty plate. "If anyone's got leftovers, you know where to put em!"

Naruto watches his family fondly as they grow a little louder with each passing minute. It wasn't too often that they could all sit down and have dinner like this, but he always enjoyed it when they did. A blushing Hinata sits off to the side with Kiba, feeding some of the curry to Akamaru. It was a miracle that all of this human food hadn't made him sick or something, though he suspected that the spirit neutralized any toxic stuff in there.

Watching Ino and Sakura fight was always funny, except when they got to whipping out the magic spells, or worse, the hair pulling. Gaara never was an easy one to rile, but that didn't mean that Lee would stop trying to get reactions out of him and Shino. Though he never had to worry about Shikamaru blowing anything up, if anything, Temari was more likely to lose her cool than their lazy genius.

Speaking of geniuses... Naruto smirks as he notices Tenten trying to induce a make out session with her boyfriend right there at the table. Which, contrary to Sakura's earlier outburst, was not something rare at the table. In fact, he'd be impressed if they ever managed to get through a dinner without someone sucking face in the middle of the room.

But still, he needed to get a least a little order back before someone started a food fight. Again. "Hey everybody, what do you think about our theme for this year's Samhain?" They always had a theme, in addition to their regular feasting and summoning activities, and usually it meant what type of Halloween costumes they were all picking out. Why have just one party when you can have two, right?

Kankuro considers it. "We could just go with an animal theme." He could make loads of puppets based off that.

"No way, let's go all out with angels and demons!" Ino wanted the irony, damn it! That, and she would look totally sexy with a little white dress and and angel wings.

Hinata raises her hand shyly. "How about period pieces? We could go dressed as people from different time periods..."

Temari pauses as she considers it. "Well, they all have merit, but let's go with period pieces." Hinata was so shy, she'd never chosen the theme before.

Hm...yeah, that could be a good theme. Naruto nods excitedly, thinking about just what they could pull out of the attic for it. "Alright, a jump through time, it is. So someone had better go dressed as a Greek god, or I'll be really bummed. And let's open it up and include some imaginary time periods, since I know that Sakura wants to do something steampunk-ish."

"You know it!" Sakura was so ready for this, she'd been planning her costume all year, hoping that's it would work for the theme. Besides, it counted as Victorian clothes, right?

"Oh man...what a drag..." That meant that Temari was going to end up dressing him up again this year. And her Shikamaru had been hoping to take a nap.

Temari gives him a dirty look. "Honestly." She had never met a lazier bum than her boyfriend. He was just fortunate he was a sexy lazy bum.

"Alright, well everyone can see if they can scare up some costumes in the next couple of weeks. Sakura, you're on the summoning circle construction with Gaara. I cleared out the basement earlier, so you've got all the room you need to work with." Naruto was an expert summoner himself, but when he got involved, things got wild and weird shit happened. And...they didn't really need a repeat of his grand accident this close to Samhain. The veil was thin enough now as it was. "Gaara, I'm counting on you, buddy." He elbows the redhead, grinning mischievously. "So be good for Sakura, okay?"

Gaara rolls his teal eyes. "Of course." He knew very well how to play nice. And summoning circles were nothing to sneeze at. They would both need to be very careful in setting it up so that only the invited could cross over, and everything else stayed put.

"Alright, so-" Naruto had been just about ready to hop down off his soap box when a handful of curry got him right in the face, coating tanned skin and golden locks in deliciously spicy dinner. "Dude, Kiba! What the heck?!"

"Pft." Kiba laughs at him. "You're slipping."Normally, Naruto would have sensed that one coming from a mile away.

"Slipping, am I...?" Naruto grins mischievously as he wipes off his face and takes up a spoon, returning multiple shots of fire in a flash.

"Stop! That curry is for eating, not for throwing!" Though Tenten knew that it was a futile battle, and it was far from the first time that her cooking had ended up bring launched across the dinner table.

"Ah!" Ino covers her hair and ducks under the table, vines growing up around her to fend off the loudly intensifying battle as Lee joins the fray, the three guys all going at it As Chouji sits with his mouth opened wide, gobbling up whatever curry happened to fall in.

When a giant flash of white leaps up onto the table, Hinata pokes her head over the side, holding up a plate to shield herself. "Akamaru, no!" But it wa too late, and the giant dog had gotten himself up on the table and started leaping around, sucking down the bits of curry as they flew through the air.

Kiba laughs as she starts grabbing food and throwing it everywhere. "Don't worry, Tenten." He grins at her as he throws a tomato at Lee's face. "One way or another, I'm sure it'll get eaten."

By this point, Sakura had joined in as well, her pink hair a mess with little bits of chicken and rice dripping from it. It was a beautiful chaos, and Tenten groans loudly as she ducks under the table with her boyfriend, hoping to ride out another chaotic dinner. Naruto cackles loudly, totally unashamed of his childish behaviour as he tosses as much food as he swallows. This was a good end to a hard day, and he wouldn't change it or his family for the world.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Sasuke smiles as he heads into the restaurant with Itachi. They had both just finished teaching a class and were going to pick Shisui up. Well that and who was he kidding? It was also an excuse to pick up something for dinner.

At the moment, he was currently trying not to salivate at the thought of a nice juicy steak and an exquisite tomato salad, lovingly prepared for by his brother's boyfriend/almost fiancée. "He'll probably be out in a few minutes." Sasuke smiles at Itachi. "You wanna get a table or just have me order it to go?" The Sharingan combined both the luxury of amazing food with some semblance of casualness. One could order things to go, but it also was a beautiful building that would be perfect for any sort of romantic evening one might plan.

Which was likely what Itachi was plotting as they spoke. A proposal at Shisu's workplace when his course load died down a bit.

Itachi ponders the question only a moment. "It has been a while since we last sat down here for a meal. It might be nice to relax a little more before the weekend is over."

Sasuke nods at that. "Yeah." He could see that. "Sounds great."

Itachi catches the eye of one of the hosts and gestures towards their usual table. The lady nods and shoots them a smile. They were very close with the fastest rising star chef, who after only seven years of working here had managed to get quite a bit of recognition for his talents. There was always a table free for Shisui's family.

Striding towards the table in the corner by the windows, Itachi smiles softly at his little brother, amusement and curiosity colouring his gaze. "So, has anything interesting happened this week beyond that stack of...interesting book reports."

"Nothing I can talk about here." Sasuke shakes his head. "Though if you're talking about that kind of interesting, no." To Sasuke, interesting meant new spells or magic or finding stronger versions of the spells he currently knew. To Itachi, it meant Sasuke's love life.

"That's a shame." Itachi knew that his little brother was quite a catch. It would be nice to see him in a happy and healthy relationship. Though Shisui had suggested getting him a playmate, so he could still work that angle. "Then how about your little terrors? Have there been any terrifying new adventures to speak of?"

Oh boy. Sasuke sighs at that. "Some of them are blossoming early." Particularly the girls. "I had one boy ask me what bras were." He winces at the mere memory of the stress migraine that conversation had given him. "He overheard one of his classmates telling another girl that she gotten her first training bra and naturally, he wanted to know what bras were and what they were training for."

Well, Itachi certainly didn't envy his little brother's job. His own profession might be a bit more strenuous, but he could generally avoid awkward conversations, especially that one. "Well, look at it this way. If you ever have children of your own, this is good training for you. I'm sure that there will be quite a few more awkward conversations like that one in your future."

"I'd say you and Shisui are more likely to have kids than me." Sasuke shakes his head. "Well at least before me." He might find someone and have a family at some point. Sasuke wasn't exactly rushing to the alter though.

One of the waitresses saunters over and listens for about thirty seconds as Itachi deftly places their order, knowing all too well what his little brother wanted. When she disappears into the kitchen, he turns back to his foolish little brother. "True, though it certainly would be nice to not have to explain such things to my own children." Itachi smirks. "Perhaps I should delegate that task to someone with more...experience."

His brother could be such an ass sometimes. There was no way that Sasuke was having those conversations again when Itachi or Shisui could handle it. "Not going to happen." He scoffs.

"A shame, since I envision you will become very good at it rather soon." Because Itachi knew that when one child started getting curious, they would all start getting curious. And while their questions might be innocent, the answers could get rather awkward. That's why he much preferred teaching university students. Adults didn't need their teachers to hold their hands through those sorts of discoveries.

Sasuke shivers at that. Itachi was probably right. He was likely about to be barraged with a bunch of awkward questions. Why couldn't their parents handle this sort of thing more often?

"In other news, I've heard from a few of my students over the past week that there have been a number of inquiries to the various departments, particularly in the medical department, as to the availability of positions for teaching teaching assistants. According to the rumours, which I checked for myself this morning, a rather large family recently bought the old manor home in the old quarter." The one listed at over a million dollars, according to the advertisements. "They're speculating that it's one of the older boys applying, as they saw an unfamiliar young man wandering about campus on Friday."

"Ah. That's cool." He nods at Itachi, feeling relieved at not having to continue the awkward conversation. "A million dollars is a pretty high figure for a college student to move into, but I guess it makes sense if they're a large family." He could only imagine the fever going on there about the mystery boy.

"Yes, It also explains the moving vans that have been parked outside of it since Friday night." Though Itachi coouldn't imagine the number of boxes it would take to fill up four whole large moving vans. On the other hand, a large number of newcomers could be dangerous if they were the wrong kind of people. "Be cautious, Sasuke. There is every chance that we won't even meet them, but we are trying to stay under the radar..." Itachi frowns, catching a whiff of...something on the breeze that wafted into the restaurant with the chiming of the front door's bell. It wasn't...natural, but it wasn't unnatural either. It felt like... then it vanished quite abruptly.

He loved magic, but he wasn't a foolish child anymore. "I'm always careful." Almost as soon as the words leave his mouth though, Sasuke feels his pupils dilate in response to well, something. It happened so quickly though, that he couldn't really process whether or not it was magical.

"Sasuke..." Itachi's frown deepens, not liking this at all. It wasn't a threatening presence, but for the brief moment he felt it, it was powerful. "Remain on your guard." He had no idea what had just passed them by, but he wanted to take no chances with it and be surprised.

"Don't cloak." Sasuke glances at the menu, feigning casualness. "So did you pick out a ring yet?" If they lowered their magic now, that'd only be more suspicious. If it was another Wiccan or something, they would have already sensed his power and Itachi's and hiding it would look bad.

"Of course." Itachi knew better than to have such a knee-jerk reaction and give himself away. It was best to dampen his energy slowly, in tiny increments that would feel to anyone observing as though the presence were walking away. "I'm simply waiting for the right opportunity to present it to him." He eyes the same waitress as before who comes out with Sasuke's steak and tomato salad, and Itachi's creamy garlic shrimp fettuccine Alfredo. Ah...heaven on a couple of plates. "You know how busy it's been lately, and I thought that perhaps planning for a summer wedding might be best."

Sasuke nods in agreement at that. A summer wedding might be nice. So he bites into his food, unaware of just how closely they were being watched.

Not so far away, a pair of sapphire eyes watches the two dark-haired men at the table in the corner. He'd felt them as soon as he walked in the door and hid his energy accordingly. He didn't think that they'd spotted him, but he couldn't tell for sure. Either way, from what he could tell, they were both young, both really hot, and both...like him. Well, not exactly like him, after all only Gaara was really like him, but they had the traces of powerful Wiccan magic on them, no doubt about it. He hadn't expected to find any, especially not so soon. But they didn't strike him as the type to be hunting him. And they couldn't have followed him, because they were already digging into their meal, which meant they must have sat down and ordered before he even walked in.

Still, it was interesting to find them here, and especially so close to Samhain. If they were friendly, then maybe he could invite their coven over for a party. If they weren't...well, he was the head of a decently sized and very powerful coven. They could all handle themselves in a fight if it came to that.

He'd ordered as soon as he saw the menu, so it was only a few more minutes before the most glorious club sandwich he'd ever seen came prancing out of the kitchen in the hands of a pretty waitress. "Here you go. I hope you enjoy your meal." She fluttered her eyelashes at him, ad she actually looked really sweet doing it.

Unfortunately for her, he was in the market for a very different kind of lover, and not someone normal. "I'm sure I will. It looks great!" And it smelled great too, the scent of the bacon and cheese had him salivating, though he tried to contain the drool behind his sharp canines. "And maybe I'll get some dessert too, later."

"We've got the best dessert in town." She smiles at him and continues fluttering her eyelashes at him. "Whatever you like? You strike me as the type who prefers something sweet." He was gorgeous. She'd seen gorgeous customers before and somewhat had an immunity due to contact with the Uchihas, but she'd never seen eyes that blue before either.

"Yeah, I definitely like the sweet stuff. My friends get mad at me almost as much as they do Chouji for stealing all the snacks." Naruto grins brightly as he takes a bite of his sandwich. And immediately, his eyes start to sparkle. "Holy crap! Who's the damn chef!?"

Itachi chuckles at that as he strides over to Naruto. Sasuke sighs as he follows after his annoying older brother. "Shisui is the chief." He was used to this type of reaction, but it always amused him. "My boyfriend. So don't go getting any ideas."

Oh, that sucked, but at least the new eye candy wasn't bad. "Too late...and here I thought I was in love. I was going to ask if I could proposition the chef. Too bad...I wouldn't mind waking up to this cooking every day. It's even better than Tenten's cooking." Then he backtracks. "Ah...but don''t tell her I said that, she'd kill me after the food fight we had at the dinner table on Friday." Naruto looks them each up and down, certain now that the two of them were family. And definitely both Wiccan, though the older one had dampened his power. He was probably trying to go incognito, just like the rest of them were.

Sasuke shakes his head half in amusement and half in exasperation. "Forgive him." It was just who his brother was. "Itachi is overprotective and jealous sometimes when it comes to Shisui." He could see why the waitress had been flirting with the guy though. "You don't have to worry about us tattling on you to whoever Tenten is because neither of us have the faintest idea who she is." Other than apparently, she cooked. "I'm Sasuke and this is Itachi."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto." He glances at the hottie who looks...maybe just a bit older than him. Definitely easy on the eyes. "Though if your big brother's boyfriend is one of the chefs here, then you might get to know Tenten. After tasting this sandwich, I'm definitely telling her to try applying here. I swear, she makes some of the best curries and rice dishes I've ever tasted. This place could open up a whole new section of the menu if it hired her."

Itachi notes with his lowly simmering jealousy and a great deal of amusement that the blond's eyes were now gluing themselves to Sasuke. That was certainly...interesting. And if it kept the, admittedly, gorgeous blond away from his soon-to-be fiancée, then he was more than willing to give Sasuke a little encouragement. "It's nice to meet you as well, Naruto. And I suppose I can hardly begrudge you your feelings regarding the food. Shisui's cooking has always been excellent." And he looked forward himself to being the one who would wake up to it everyday. Officially, anyway.

It sounded like he was seriously trying to get his friend a job. It was kind of funny in a way. The blonde definitely wasn't subtle. "Maybe, you can talk to Shisui about it." Sasuke shrugs casually at Naruto. "He's getting off work soon and we were just going to have some dinner before heading home." Curry wasn't really his thing, but it was pretty popular. Couldn't hurt to add another chef anyway. It might mean less long days for Shisui which would make Itachi happy. Which would hopefully distract his meddling brother from Sasuke's admittedly nonexistent love life.

"Cool, then I'll stick around for a little while." Naruto's grin widens as he feels the ambient touch of Sasuke's power. It felt good, strong, controlled. Obviously experienced, but not in your face about it. The he glances back at Itachi, sizing him up a little. "Sorry if you felt like I was encroaching on your territory. I'm new in town and I haven't met a lot of people yet, so I don't know who all the hot single people are. Most of my friends are basically coupled up at this point. Or glued together enough that they might as well be married."

New in town, that certainly explained a lot. Such as why Itachi had never seen this boisterous blond before. But there was also that territory comment... "You only encroach on my territory if you try to proposition my lover. So long as you abide that rule, we will have no quarrel."

Sasuke had never seen someone give a life history before that quickly. He blinks. Not really sure how to respond to that. "Itachi is pretty easy to understand when it comes to that sort of thing." Sasuke smirks. "In English don't touch or look at Shisui the wrong way and you get to live."

Naruto chuckles loudly at the low-key sort of threat. "Got it. But if he's as hot as you two, that's going to be hard." He wolfs down a couple more bites of his sandwich, licking the sauce from his lips with a vivid pink tongue. Then he drops the volume of his voice so that he doesn't announce anything to the rest of the restaurant. "Like, seriously, I feel like the two of you can't be real. Is there some kind of illusion spell on you two? Because no one can possibly be that perfect-looking."

Alarm bells go off immediately in Itachi's head, particularly when a subtle wave of power comes ebbing off the blond. So that was it...

At first, Sasuke just thought Naruto was an outrageous gay, or maybe bisexual or something of that nature, flirt. That was until that last part. He looks at Itachi uncertainly. Hopefully, his brother could handle this because Sasuke felt thrown for a loop to put it mildly.

"I see..so you're the one we felt approaching this place." Itachi immediately puts his guard up, no longer bothering to dampen his power. "Perhaps it would be better to speak outside while we await Shisui."

Sapphire eyes flick over Itachi's frame, detecting caution, but no hostility. "Yeah, we can do that. Just let me pay and I'll meet you out back."

"Of course" Well, it seemed that the blond was going to be reasonable, that bode better than Itachi had initially hoped. "Come Sasuke, let's collect our things and be on our way. It seems that we have a new neighbour to introduce ourselves to properly."

"Alright." Sasuke nods as he heads off with Itachi to do exactly that. "It's at least two against one, three when Shisui gets back." The raven haired man hoped it didn't come to that though. "If worst comes to worse."

"Against a normal opponent, perhaps." Though if his initial impression of the blond was anything like the truth, Itachi was doubtful at best of their chances in battle. If they caught him unawares, it would be a different story. Maybe. "In any case, remain cautious, but do not alienate him. If he is truly as he presents himself,, then we my have no cause at all to be at odds with him."

At least, so Itachi hoped.

* * *

A mere seven minutes later, Naruto circles around to the back parking lot of the restaurant, smiling wryly. "You know, this almost makes me feel like I'm back in high school, coming out to meet someone for a brawl."

Sasuke couldn't entirely disagree with that. "Reminds me of a lot of nature documentaries." Particularly about lions and pride males. "So you're pretty... flashy."

Naruto barely holds in a loud snort of laughter. "Jeez, you have no idea. Sakura is always getting on my case about it, even though she can destroy anything she fucking touches." He crosses his arms and stops restraining his power, grinning at the slight widening of the eyes in the elder brother. "So, should I expect to have to fight a whole coven or something? Because I promise we're not here to do any kind of hostile takeover of your territory, I promise."

Itachi evaluates the blond carefully, taking in the nearly overwhelming feeling of magic around them. "Your intentions are peaceful, then?" He'd only met a few of their kind before, and none had power to equal this. Those who came even remotely close...were standing in the parking lot right now.

"Oh yeah, definitely peaceful." Naruto nods, grinning brightly. "We're just trying to find a good home is all. It's hard to find a place that'll accept people like us without getting out the pitchforks and torches."

"This isn't 1692 Salem." Sasuke shakes his head. "I wouldn't go around flaunting your magic, but even if you did people would probably think it was some kind of hoax or special effect." He looks at Itachi. "I think he's actually telling the truth. With the kind of power he's flashing, if he wanted to attack he could have already." The most disturbing thing was he might have won too.

"Yes..." Though that still didn't quite explain everything that Itachi wanted to know. "So why here? Have you brought an entire coven along with you?"

"Yep, brought the whole family with me." Naruto laughs, his senses heightening as he feels another presence approaching the back door of the restaurant from inside the kitchen. "We picked this place because it seemed like it would be far enough away that we could get a fresh start. You know, get away from all of the pressure and problems back home and all." And escape from hunters and other covens who wanted to kill them all. But he could save that for later. "Sorry for hiding from you guys at first, I just wanted to make sure that you're on our side before going for the big reveal."

Shisui watches the exchange. His lover's body language was cautious, but seemed to be slowly relaxing. The same could be said of Sasuke. "Well, that's good to hear." He walks over to them. " I was starting to get rather worried when I sensed that much magic."

Naruto raises an eyebrow at the newcomer and looks him up and down, not believing what he's seeing. "Fuck...it should seriously be illegal for you guys to be within a mile of each other. Isn't there like...a sexy threshold that you have to abide by or something so that you don't break the universe in half? I take it that you're the chef I wanted to proposition in the middle of the restaurant?"

Itachi twitches, but holds his peace, as Naruto was doing nothing more than looking, and it was hardly restricted to Shisui, so he couldn't truly complain. And it wasn't as though the blond was required to be blind. He just wished that someone this powerful would keep his eyes somewhere else. ANYWHERE else. Preferably on Sasuke.

"Well, you're defintiely a blunt one." Shisui chuckles and shakes his head. "Though to answer your question, I don't believe there are any sort of regulations in regards to sexy speed limits so to speak."

Sasuke snorts at that and nods. "That's Shisui." He pauses for a moment. "My brother's boyfriend." He wanted to say that it was just good genes, but he wasn't in the habit of giving out his life story and mostly, was trying to ignore the fact his eyes were still dilating around Naruto. It was hard not to have his eyes go red from sheer exposure to him.

It happened sometimes. When he got a magical surge of energy or did a powerful spell. His eyes would go red and despite going to the doctors dozens of time, there was still nothing wrong with his 20-20 vision. Nor Itachi's or Shisui's when they made similar inquiries for their own eyesight.

"Oh, good to know." So this WAS the sexy chef. Naruto looks him up and down one more time, then shrugs. "Too bad." He grins sideways at Itachi. "Nice catch, I can see why you snatched him up so quick. My stomach knows it too." And from the looks of Itachi's relaxing and smug expression, he'd wormed his way out of getting smacked by at least one of the hottes, probably two. Though the third hottie...he tilts his head slightly as he observes Sasuke. "Nice eyes. A couple of my coven can do something kinda like that, only their eyes go white, not red. Probably a family thing, then." Especially since Sasuke was far from the only one doing it.

Despite it being what Sasuke was sure was some kind of chemical reaction, he feels his cheeks burn a bit at the knowledge Naruto had seen them. "Thanks...That sounds interesting." He had heard of a few things here and there, whispers about other magical users whose eyes changed colors. Though most of the accounts were far from reliable and the ones that were, well they were sparse on details.

"So..." Naruto glances around The parking lot, not sensing anyone else of note approaching. "Should I be expecting the rest of your coven to show up? Or are you three the only eye candy I'm getting?"

Itachi looks to Shisui ruefully. That wasn't a question they ever really wanted to answer because of their...circumstances. How did you bring up in casual conversation that you'd been disowned by your family for practicing magic and moved across the country to get away from them and bee with your lover and little brother, who also took up the practice? Hm, perhaps he could pose the question to his philosophy student son their final exam.

"We're the only ones at the restaurant." Sasuke looks at him as if daring Naruto to challenge him on that. "Sorry, that my brother's possessiveness interrupted your meal." He wasn't going to admit that they were only in a three person coven when it sounded like Naruto's was a lot bigger.

"Sasuke..." Itachi raises two fingers and pokes his foolish little brother's forehead. "There is no need to apologize over me staking my claim." Then he strides behind Shisui and wraps his arms around the older man. "After all, setting boundaries is a good thing."

Shisui laughs at that and shakes his head. Only Itachi. It was sweet in a medieval sort of way, he supposed. "My love, what century do you believe you're living in?" He raises an eyebrow in amusement. "I truly do wonder sometimes."

"The ninth century, I believe." Itachi smirks as he places a kiss on the back of Shisui's neck.

Naruto nearly busts a gut laughing. "Wow, you guys really are something, huh?" Damn, could they GET any sexier? He sure hoped not, or this was going to get awkward and fast. "Tell you what. If you guys haven't planned your Samhain feast yet, why don't you swing by my place and meet the family? I'll even introduce you to Tenten." He grins at Shisui. "She doesn't make the sandwiches you do, but she's got a spicy curry that makes for the best tasting ammo you've ever been hit with."

Shisui squirms a bit at that. Damn Itachi. That simply wasn't fighting fair and he had to know that. His neck had always been sensitive, but fortunately Sasuke was coherent enough to respond for them. "Sure." He nods. "Sounds good." After all, Naruto knew where Shisui worked now. He also had a larger coven. It'd be a bigger risk NOT to attend at this point.

"Great, then I'll let Tenten and Neji know that we're expecting guests. Hm..." Naruto searches around in the pockets of his jacket for a notebook and pen. He usually kept them on him in case he got a good lead from someone. "Ah! Here it is!" He pulls out a bright green and orange notebook shaped like a toad. He scribbles down a few words and a slew of numbers. "There, this is the address, and my cell number and the home phone just in case." He grins as he tears the small page out and hands it to Sasuke, seeing as the other two were...occupied. "The dress code is period pieces, so your brother should feel right at home wearing something medieval. We like to combine our Feast of Samhain with a Halloween party, so we pick out a costume theme every year."

Sasuke nods at him. He didn't even comment on the strange type of notebook. This was a gamble at best, but they were apparently going to do it anyway.

"Hmm." Shisui tilts his head thoughtfully. "Well, it is a bit short notice. Still, I'm sure we can find suitable costumes in a week."

"Ha, you're telling me. It's rough organizing this when we just moved in, but there's no way we were gonna miss it." Naruto tucks away the notebook and shoves his hands into his pockets. "I'll see you guys around, then. And you don't need to bring any food, Tenten and Neji have it covered." Oh right, and speaking of Tenten... Naruto turns to Shisui eagerly. "Right, so you'll get to sample some of Tenten's home cooking. You can decide then if you wanna recommend her to your boss or not, but I'm gonna tell her to try applying here once we're finally settled in."

"I'll keep that in mind." Shisui nods at him. "She's lucky to have such a determined friend vouching for her." Extremely so. Some people might have been shocked or slightly put off by Naruto's insistence, but it reminded Shisui of a puppy trying to fetch a newspaper or something. To him it was cute and apparently, Sasuke must have felt the same way. Those ruby red eyes had yet to leave their new friend.

"Hey, I take good care of my coven." Naruto's grin softens. "They're my family, you know?"

"Yes..." Itachi certainly knew what it meant for your coven to be your family. Sasuke and Shisui might literally be family, but there was a difference between the family you were born with and the family you chose. He was fortunate enough to have both in the two men he loved most.

"Well, seeya!" Naruto turns to leave, throwing one last grin over his shoulder before he disappears from the parking lot. "The real fun starts at sunset. And we're going all weekend."

Dark eyes watch as the bubbly blond disappears from sight. "That was certainly...interesting." Itachi brushes his lips once more against the back of Shisui's neck. "I hadn't expected a full coven to relocate here."

"Me neither." Shisui chuckles and Sasuke pretends not to notice what Itachi was doing. He damn well knew that Shisui had. "It's alright, Itachi. I've never been into blondes anyway."

"Hm...good." Itachi smiles softly, then turns his eyes on Sasuke. "What address did that little puppy give you?"

"123 Holly Road." Sasuke doesn't even bother to argue with the description. "So I guess we might as well start looking for costumes." it was accurate.

"In the old quarter?" That address sounded very familiar. Then Itachi placed it. "I see...so that's who purchased the old manor house." It wasn't a large family, it was an entire coven. A few small puzzles pieces were beginning fall into place. "And rather than hiding it, he chose to invite us to a feast-day." They would have to be cautious, but he saw no reason to be rude and refuse to go. He could certainly manage a few costumes for them, and he was certain that Sasuke would look dashing for the little puppy in something...maybe fourteenth century?

Itachi knew his geography, Sasuke would admit that much. "Yes, the old quarter." One that was barely used at all except by reclusive wealthy people, but it was a beautiful place. "They have good taste. But yeah, that was quite the statement."

"Then I believe we have a festival to prepare for." And Itachi could only hope that it went as smoothly as this meeting turned out to be.


	3. Chapter 3

It was evident as soon as they stepped into the large driveway that this was not an ordinary house. Itachi could feel...nothing in the air, as though all of his senses had been blocked as soon as they crossed the property line of the large, three story home, his head stuffed into a large ball of cotton so that he could neither see nor hear nor smell anything out of the ordinary. "...They have protective wards up around the house." That was the only explanation for the benign feeling of nothingness here. It was unsettling, to say the least. Though the lights in the windows and the plethora of Halloween decorations showed quite evidently that the coven was home. It was all rather eerie. though perhaps that was to keep in tune with the theme of the feast day that heralded the months of coming darkness.

Shisui frowns at that. "They're going through a lot of trouble to mask their magic." As far as he knew, the city didn't have a large Wiccan population. He'd almost say that he, Itachi, and Sasuke were the only practicing Wiccans there, but he knew that was unlikely to be the case. The others were likely either quiet solo practitioners or belonged to far less flashy covens.

"Yes, they are." And Itachi did have to wonder why. In any case, he felt no traps or malicious intent in the air, so he strides forward towards the door, clad head to toe in the garb of a Frankish noble of the Carolingian Dynasty. Shisui had insinuated that he was medieval in bearing and temperament, so he was just living up to the role with his sweeping robes and noble bearing. His lover, though, was content to dress in something a little more Celtic in nature, which Itachi wholeheartedly approved of. He looked forward to playing with that kilt later. Sasuke had opted for the more conservative jerkin, tunic, trousers and boots of a late medieval style. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." Sasuke nods as they head inside together. "I just hope you don't flip if Shisui bends over and someone sees up his kilt."

"Then I will have to be sure that only one person witnesses what can be found up my lover's kilt." Itachi smirks, raising a hand to the door and clapping the large brass eagle knocker against the old wood.

Shisui laughs at that. Itachi would always be Itachi. "You have to be the most possessive man on the planet." It was a miracle that his lover hadn't actually been arrested yet.

Itachi glances back over his shoulder at handsome dark eyes. "It hasn't scared you away from me as of yet. I don't believe you mind it all that much."

But even as he teases his lover, Itachi's hand falls away from the door as it open. And several things happened at once. The first was that the quiet night air was suddenly filled with the sounds of many people laughing and chattering and moving about inside the house. The second was the smell of a hundred foods wafting out the door. And the third was the intense wave of bright and varied magical energies that washed out into the night air, no longer contained by the protective wards.

And a pair of bright sapphire eyes greets them joyfully at the door. "You made it!" The viking in a costume about three sizes too big grins widely. "Great timing, the party's just getting started."

Sasuke had never felt such a rush of magical energy hit him all at once before. "Yeah." Though it didn't entirely surprise him that Naruto had gone with a viking costume. It made sense in a way. He was certainly as a determined and reckless as one.

A tan hand reaches out for Sasuke's arm and drags the youngest of the trio inside, ducking as a large dog biscuit narrowly misses his head. "It's kinda crazy in here, but that's how we like it!" And chasing after the biscuit, Akamaru flies through the air, landing with a clack of nails and skis across the floor as he bites the treat out if the air. "And make sure to watch your heads, just in case." He takes a deep breath, cutting through all the noise at once. "Hey everybody! Guests are here!"

How big was this coven, Sasuke almost gapes. Boisterous would have been an understatement. Normally, he would have been annoyed at someone dragging him off like that, but mostly he was just amazed.

"Well, I guess that's one way to make an entrance." Shisui chuckles.

Indeed it is." Itachi strides inside, dodging a couple of biscuits with flawless grace. His gaze traverses the large living room and into the dining room, counting approximately...fifteen young people, all approximately Sasuke's age. Odd. Most covens that were this size usually had an elder or two who led the coven, but there was no one older than approximately twenty-seven here. "They also appear to be rather fond of throwing food." Naruto had said as much when they'd met outside the restaurant.

Sasuke rolls his eyes at his brother. "Do you have to make everything sound so clinical?" That or maybe he was just getting into character. Though it would have been hard to tell since Itachi was that way all the time.

"Only in public, foolish little brother." Itachi smirks as his gaze drifts back to his lover. "As Shisui very well knows."

Shisui feels his cheeks burn bright crimson at that. Itachi did have his moments of informality.

"So...you're the hotties that Naruto picked up at that restaurant, huh?" A pair of lighter blue eyes gleams as they fall on the trio. Her eyes rake over them, falling particularly strong on Itachi, who raises a single eyebrow. "He should really bring us presents more often. Hi, I'm Ino." She smiles brilliantly, ignoring Naruto's snickers as the Viking toddles off towards one of the tables full of food.

She was about to be a dead Ino, if she didn't watch it. "Yes, my boyfriend, myself, and Sasuke are so grateful to have made Naruto's acquaintance." Emphasis on MY BOYFRIEND. Hopefully, she wouldn't be foolish enough to undress Itachi with her eyes further or kilt or no kilt, she was getting hexed. Never let it be said that Shisui took a challenge like that laying down.

Itachi chuckles and laces his fingers with Shisui's and places a soft kiss to the pulse point beneath pale skin. "What my lover means to say is that we appreciate the compliments, but the two of us are quite firmly taken. However, if you wish to introduce Sasuke to the rest of your coven, feel free to do so."

"The fuck, Itachi?!" He couldn't believe his brother. "You can't just hand me off like some prized steer or stallion at a state fair like that!"

Ino giggles loudly and clutches her sides. "I love him already!" Then she waves over to Naruto across the room. "We've got a real winner here!"

"Told you so!" Naruto shoots a foxy grin at Sasuke, then Ino. "Now go give your boyfriend a lap dance. You know Sai likes blonds better." Now THAT has Itachi raising a curious eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah, fine." She rolls her eyes and leans forward to plant a playful kiss on Sasuke's cheek. "There, your official welcome to the Konoha coven's Feast of Samhain. Try not to get too drunk tonight, because the party goes all weekend long."

Sasuke blinks, now he was wondering if she was a succubus or something. The woman seemed to be eyeing everyone or in her 'boyfriend's' case, giving him lapdances. "This has got to be some sort of dream." The sort of vision a hippie might have had during Woodstock, if they had a little too much fun.

"Apparently not." Itachi had never seen a celebration quite like this, and the three of them were getting more than a few curious looks as they ventured further into the party. "Well Shisui, shall we make ourselves comfortable?" After all, there seemed to be several couples about. He counted...four couples at a minimum, based on the social interactions of this evidently very close-knit coven. Clearly this was a place where they could get away with more than a little PDA.

Shisui wasn't entirely sure that it was a smart idea to separate, but if they didn't that would just label them outsiders more. "Remember what I taught you, Sasuke." A teleportation spell that he had nicknamed the Body Flicker.

"Got it." Sasuke assures him with a nod.

"Then go and mingle, Sasuke. Some socialization with someone other than ten year-olds might do you some good." Itachi smiles serenely as he wraps an arm around Shisui's waist and pulls his lover away into the party. At the very least, he wanted to be able to sample some of the delicious food he smelled strewn across the room.

Sasuke shoots him a withering glare at that. Wait to make him sound creepy. He was a teacher. It was his job to socialize with ten year olds and hopefully teach them some basic history! Sighing at the realization that scolding Itachi was a futile pursuit, the youngest Uchiha decides just to stick close to Naruto for now. He was the only other person that Sasuke really knew anyway.

Naruto chuckles as the youngest of the trio ambles towards him, looking a combination of uncomfortable and embarrassed. "So, you got ambushed by Ino already. I guess I should have warned you that she works fast."

He crosses his arms. "Yes, a warning would have been appreciated." Still, tearing into Naruto would only alienate the one person here who wasn't family that Sasuke sorta knew. "Though that does seem to be something of a coven trait at this rate."

"Yeah, we're all a little nuts." And Naruto was definitely proud of that. "But we're all family and I love each and every one of them. We've been through all the rough patches together, and I wouldn't change them one bit." He holds out a glass of punch to the dark-haired Wiccan, being careful not to shed any fur off his costume and into the drink.

"Is this some sort of invitation to join your coven?" He takes the drink out of politeness. "Is that why you invited us here to join your family?" Though instinct told him drinking something an almost stranger offered him was a bad idea. No matter how hot said stranger was...

"Nah, I'm forward, but I'm not THAT forward. At least, not without getting you guys good and drunk first." He grins brightly. "I just figured it was better to be friendly with the locals." Naruto shrugs and tosses back his own glass of punch, his eyes glowing a little as the magic races through his veins. "And I figured by your reaction last time that you three don't have a full coven, so I wanted to invite you guys to the party. I know that it's hard to have a feast day with just three people."

Sasuke tilts his head. "So you're like the Wiccan version of a Frat Boy." That kinda made sense. Maybe, he was a little too cynical.

"Well, not quite, but close enough." Naruto gazes out at the room, eyes watching each and every member of his makeshift family. "We all ended up going to college together, eventually. Or I guess you could say through our multiple college careers, we all ended up running into each other. So we ended up renting out an old frat house on our last campus since there were twelve of us at the time. We brought that up to fifteen when we took in Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. So not really a frat when we turned it into a co-ed dorm. But we've just all been stuck together since...whenever each of them wandered into my life."

That was sweet in a slightly bizarre way. Sasuke wasn't really sure what to say. "Well, I hope none of the rest of your family hits on Shisui or Itachi." It wouldn't end well for them. "They're insanely possessive of one another."

"I wouldn''t be too worried, more than half the coven is already in relationships, Kankuro and Shino wouldn't be interested, I don't think Lee even knows what sex is, Sakura doesn't hit on people in relationships, Gaara is..." Okay, well what could Naruto say about Gaara... "He's a very private person." That was safe. "And then there's Chouji who's already married to his snacks, and...I've already had my shot, so the only person they need to dodge is Ino, really. And she's more attached to Sai than she pretends to be, and we all know it."

He nods at that. Though a thought does occur to him. If he hadn't been half intoxicated by all the magic around him, Sasuke probably wouldn't have voiced it though. "Is this a coven or some kind of magical matchmaking service?" He snorts as he takes a sip of his drink.

Naruto chuckles softly as he refills his glass. "It's a family, and I want all of my family to be happy. That's all." He tosses back half of the magic punch and his eyes glow a bit brighter. "And if that means letting them make out in the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, or wherever that isn't my room, then that's fine with me. Unless it's me they're making out with, but it's been a while since the last time that happened. Just try not to trip over anyone."

Sasuke knew he shouldn't have drank whatever was in the glass. "Good to know." Whatever it was, it wasn't run of the mill liquor. "What is this?"

"Blue raspberry, cherry, and lemon punch infused with Sakura's magical vodka recipe. She's been working on the recipe for a few years now, and once she figured out that it was safe, she started letting us drink it. It's a staple at our feast days." Naruto grins as he drains his glass and points to the head of bright pink hair on the couch. "She's our rune-binder and magical potions expert. If you need a protective charm or magical pick-me-up, she's the girl to see."

"Noted." He nods as he slowly drinks it. "Well, it's good." If they drank it all the time, the magical component couldn't be too potent. "Nice flavors."

"Yeah, she picked those out too, apparently because she's working on making her next set of potion experiments in those flavours." Naruto grins into his glass, enjoying the increasing red glow in Sasuke's eyes. "She's on her...thirtieth round of those, and we've been her guinea pigs for the last fifteen, so I think she's just trying to finish the recipe at this point."

"I'd ask if she was your girlfriend, but I'm pretty sure you're gay and not bisexual." The alcohol was loosening his tongue too much. Maybe he should put it down.

"Actually I am. She and I hooked up...like six years ago. But it didn't really feel right, so we decided just to stay friends." Naruto snorts at the thought. "Though nowadays, she feels more like my sister than my friendly ex."

Sasuke glances back at Sakura and bites back some pretty sarcastic comments. "Usually I'm better at guessing that sort of thing." He wasn't really a big believer in the whole being friends with an ex thing. For Sasuke that would have just been too awkward, but it seemed to work for Naruto.

"Well, I'm a mysterious guy." Naruto's eyes twinkle as he finally puts his glass down. "Or did me hiding my power the second I sensed you guys not tip you off?"

"That's the only mysterious thing you did." Sasuke watches him with some amusement, though his eyes did occasionally flicker back to Sakura. "Everything else, you've been an open book. To an almost unheard of degree." At one point, that had been Naruto's type? But Naruto had repeatedly stated he found the three Uchihas attractive and they were complete opposites from Sakura as far as aesthetics went.

"Hm...so you think." A rumbling, almost purring chuckle grows in Naruto's throat. "Oh, is someone jealous?" Based on the way Sasuke kept looking back at Sakura and glaring, he was going to have to say yes. "You shouldn't be, you know." With a foxy, playful grin, Naruto pecks Sasuke on the lips and winks, then takes off across the room and into the kitchen.

Sasuke was about to tell Naruto that he was NOT jealous. He definitely would have too, but then the idiot kissed him. To make matters worse though, the idiot kissed him and then ran away from him!

If he hadn't already drank the magical liquor, Sasuke probably would have rolled his eyes and ignored Naruto. That or hunted him down when he least suspected it, but he finds his feet moving of almost their own accord as he follows him.

On a path leading from the kitchen, a redhead raises an eyebrow at the approaching visitor who looked like he was a tiger stalking prey. "...You must be the one Naruto was running from."

"You could say that." Sasuke watches a surprisingly feral looking red head. "He started it though. He kissed me and ran off."

Oh you had to be kidding. " I see that Naruto is being his affectionate self again." Though the first time he had done it outside of the coven. "Alright, go and teach him a lesson. It seems he needs it." He steps side, watching the newcomer coolly. "I am Gaara, Naruto's right hand. Punish him for being an idiot all you want. Hurt him, and you won't have a chance to regret it."

Right hand? What was this a pirate crew or something? "Noted." Sasuke wasn't planning on hurting Naruto anyway. Well at least not like THAT. Smacking him around some wasn't outside the realm of possibility though.

"Good. Check the second floor, he's already run away from the kitchen." Gaara glances towards the stairs. "He has sharp ears." And, his warning delivered, the redhead drifts away and back into the noisy party.

Sasuke darts after Naruto. He wasn't sure what he'd actually do to Naruto when he caught him, but he'd figure that out later.

Up the stairs and from the third door on the left comes the quiet sound of snickering, badly muffled even to human ears. The fox could hear the hound approaching.

Hearing the laughter, Sasuke approaches the door and toes it open to se a flash of blond in the dimly lit room. That's when Sasuke does something stupid, he pounces and pins Naruto to a large, soft bed. "You can't just kiss someone and run off."

The foxy blond grins up at the hound above him. "Says who? I never saw that in the Wicca rulebook."

"Says me." Sasuke gives him a determined look.

An almost invisible blond eyebrow rises in challenge. "Well I'm not running off any time soon, now am I?" Not pinned to his bed, he wasn't. And now, it was time to fuck with the sexy hound's head a little. "So, now that you've chased me through the house, have you got me where you want me?"

Sasuke wasn't sure what he should do at this point. He felt a little tongue tied. Chasing the idiot had seemed like a good idea at the time, but Naruto was now an acquaintance and he couldn't actually act on any impulses... could he? "Depends if you learned your lesson or not." He smirks.

A brilliant, wicked grin stretches across Naruto's face. "I dunno, Teach. I never was the best student, as I'm sure most of my past teachers will tell you. I got detention a lot as a kid."

"I figured." Sasuke shakes his head in amusement. "Well, if you're going to kiss someone don't just give some G rated knock off." He lowers his head and kisses the blond idiot beneath him.

"Yeah." Naruto snickers into the kiss, pressing back up as he opens his mouth and prods at Sasuke's lips with his tongue. Definitely a good chase if it ended like this.

Sasuke could scarcely recall the last time he had bothered to properly kiss someone. Again, maybe it was the magical drink or just those baby blue eyes of Naruto's, but he finds himself kissing him. Really kissing the other man as his tongue glides against Naruto's.

Sliding one arm out of Sasuke's grip, Naruto reaches up to the back of Sasuke's neck and pulls him close enough to fuse their mouths firmly together as their tongues did battle. He welcomes the intrusion in his mouth, it got his blood pumping to find someone who might be his match, his equal. At least in kissing.

He groans quietly into the kiss as he deepens it. Whatever else Naruto was, the man obviously was an expert in kissing. Besides, it was only kissing. So Sasuke didn't feel too bad about indulging in his latent desires.

Naruto's hand slides down over Sasuke's shoulders, feeling the hard leather under his fingertips. Leather...that was hot. So was black, apparently. Black hair, black eyes, black clothes... Did this count as him starting a fetish? Because that was totally okay with him.

He shifts back on his furs, sliding down a bit and resting the back of his head flat on the bed, golden locks fanning out like a halo. he pulls Sasuke down a bit more, fitting them both comfortably on the large, loose fur.

"I have to admit." Sasuke breaks the kiss by tugging at Naruto's lower lip gently with his teeth. "I never thought that I'd end up making out with a viking." For some reason, the thought amuses him more than he was disturbed at the fact how quickly he had thrown himself at Naruto. Though that could have been the unexpected tightness of his pants talking.

Naruto returns the favor, nearly pricking a once pale, now kiss-swollen lip with a sharp canine. "And I never thought risking detention could be so sexy. I wish my teachers had been as hot as you while I was still going to school."

Wait. How did Naruto know that? "You overheard Itachi's comment about kids." That had to be it. How else could Naruto know what his job was.

"Well yeah, of course I did." Naruto shoots him a foxy grin. "I hear everything that goes on in this house unless the room is soundproofed. That, and..." A faint hint of blush coasts his tan cheeks. "When I mentioned to the rest of the coven that I'd invited you three, Shikamaru and Neji decided to google you."

"That's not creepy at all." Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Though I can see why you did it." He probably should have done the same to them. "Find anything interesting?"

"Nothing as interesting as the real thing." Naruto tilts his head to the side, still grinning away. "I prefer something I can put my hands on to a picture."

That didn't really surprise Sasuke, but he wasn't about to complain. So he snorts playfully and kisses Naruto again.

And this kiss continues the work of the first in melting Naruto's brain into goo. He hazily shuts his eyes, welcoming the now familiar tongue back into their energetic tango as he presses back and curls up his preternaturally flexible tongue. He was so...so fucking lucky that he chose the weekend to go and scope out that damn restaurant. Because he did not regret having this hottie on top of him making love to him with just his damn tongue.

Sasuke continues kissing him for a few minutes happily. Though this was getting too hot and heavy. "You're really fucking good at that." He pulls away reclutantly.

"So does this mean I don't get detention, Teach?" Naruto cocks his head to the side, blue eyes glowing and twinkling with the after effects of the magic punch.

"Not this early on anyway." He shakes his head, hoping that he didn't sund nearly as breathless as he felt. "Consider this a warning."

A soft laugh escapes the blond's lips. "I can work with that." He leans up to peck Sasuke on the lips one more time. "At least I didn't scare you away from the party."

"Mmm I suppose not." Sasuke returns the chaste kiss.

The door left slightly ajar swings open another foot, and an amused pair of dark eyes watches the rather affectionate scene before him. "We'd wondered where you'd gotten off to Sasuke."

The cruel irony of Itachi of all people cockblocking him. "You're got to be kidding me." Sasuke groans as he gets off Naruto and tries to look anywhere but at his face.

Itachi wasn't very surprised to see his foolish little brother laying atop the playful blond. "Neji asked me to let the both of you know that the summoning circle activation is in ten minutes."

"Shit! I forgot!" Naruto had been enjoying kissing Sasuke so much that he'd forgotten that they were due to start their spirit summoning tonight. "Sorry, Sasuke, we'll have to pick this up later. Gaara helps me out with the summoning now, but I'm always the one in charge of getting the spirits here." He shimmies off the bed and tries to straighten out his costume a little.

His embarrassment was somewhat nullified by that. "Alright." Naruto had been distracted from doing some serious magic due to his kissing skills.

"Alright, now let's get this show on the road!" Naruto grins widely, ignoring the fact that they'd just been walked in on by Sasuke's big brother. He had a job to do, and it was time to fill this place with party guests.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Celestia193's Author's Note: Alright, so this chapter is largely based off of some rituals and customs that I found online with a little bit of research. Obviously none of it is written in Gaelic, so it's not perfectly authentic, but I hope that you all enjoy it nonetheless. Also, it will be rather emotional, so watch out.

Still a bit pink in the cheeks, Naruto descends into the basement, the air growing thicker with every step. The scent of lavender, wormwood, and cinnamon permeates the air again and he takes in a deep breath of it, smiling calmly. "It's almost time." Though, speaking of the ritual... He glances back over his shoulder at Sasuke and Itachi, frowning slightly. "I don't suppose you guys carry around any pictures of dead relatives you liked?"

Sasuke shakes head quickly. "We don't." Even if they had, the youngest Uchiha wasn't entirely certain he would have given it to Naruto for something like this. As tempting as it was, who knew what they might pull the spirit away from or if they'd be the same? "Are you sure this is safe?" In hindsight, making out with Naruto seemed like such a safe and tame thing to do. Perfectly reasonable compared to summoning your dead relatives.

"Course it is." Naruto grins widely. "We're only summoning the people we want, and they know the drill. It's Samhain, which means it's time for them to come and party with us." And there were several faces he was looking forward to seeing again. "You've never done this before, then?"

"No." Though Itachi would admit to being curious about the process. Their holidays were quiet, intimate affairs. A boisterous gathering like this was promising to be full of surprises.

Naruto pushes open the door to the basement and steps into the large room. "Then you're in for a real treat tonight." His sapphire eyes turn on Gaara, waiting for him in the large, triple layered summoning circle. The protective enchantments were stronger than they used to be, now that Gaara was helping out, and Naruto couldn't wait to see everyone again.

Itachi steps into the room behind Naruto, his eyes widening slightly when he sees the entire coven gathered downstairs, each of them holding picture frames and small trinkets, a mixture of excited happiness and a sad anxiety in the air. And in the middle of the room, in the very center of the magic circle lay an altar with glowing coals and a sweet, smoky scent.

Like Sasuke, Shisui's feelings were a bit mixed. "Alright then." He looks around curiously, but a bit anxiously. They had done this before the blonde claimed and they were alright. This could be a chance to see some powerful magic. Sasuke's hesitation was slowly giving away to a cautious curiosity as well judging by those ruby red eyes.

Itachi steps towards his lover, lacing their fingers together as he joins him against the far wall. "It appears that their celebrations are far more complex than ours." And older, for it was an ancient tradition to celebrate this feast alongside the dead. He just knew of very, very few who still practiced that way.

Sasuke resists the impulse to utter a childish 'Duh' at his brother. "Looks like it." He laces his fingers with Itachi though. "So what do you need us to do Naruto?"

The blond walks right into the circle and turns to face Gaara, only shooting the Uchihas a brief look. "Just watch and don't cross the boundary of the circle. You're about to see something awesome." Then he grins fe rally at his equally feral-looking partner. "Ready, Gaara?" He flares a little power, letting it spill out into the faintly glowing circle.

Gaara nods at that as he also sends a current of power there. The others weren't fair behind though. They had done this ritual more than once. Though it was apparent the Uchihas were still new at this sort of magic.

Naruto closes his eyes, breathing deeply as the infusion proceeds without incident. "Sakura."

The pink-haired rune-binder steps forward, carrying a number of picture frames, one of a man with white hair, another of a young couple, a blond man and a woman with long, fiery hair. She steps slowly through the protective circle and places the pictures on the altar. A third photo joins them, one of a smiling woman with silver-streaked strawberry blond hair and kind green eyes with many a wrinkled smile line. Over the last picture, Sakura hangs an old golden locket filled with incense. then she steps back out of the circle and retakes her place among her coven. "Sai."

The darksome artist steps forward, his face almost blank as he steps through the circle, placing a picture of a white-haired boy next to the others, laying a small picture book before it. "Temari."

Temari nods before doing her part as well. She places a picture of a sandy blonde woman who looked rather young to be a spirit there. The picture also came with a set of diamond earrings. "Hinata."

Hinata jeeps into the circle next. A photo of a bluenette who bore a striking resemblance to the young witch and a pearl necklace were also placed with the others. "Neji."

Her cousin steps into the circle once she's left her offering. He solemnly places a picture of a young man on the altar, perhaps Itachi's age, and leaves a gilded fountain pen with the photo. "Kiba."

On it went, each member of the coven stepping up to the altar and placing their offerings to the dead. And on it went, until only Naruto was left.

He stares at the photos of the old man and the young couple, then smiles softly as he takes an old, tattered toad-shaped notebook from his pocket and places it before the picture of the old man, and a small velvet box before the photo of the young couple.

It was time.

Naruto takes a deep breath and looks to Gaara holding the bell. "Blood of my blood, you spirits of love...come from below and from above. Entities loving who wish me well, come to this circle when I sound the bell."

Gaara nodded as he rings the bell three times.

Sasuke watched the red head like a hawk, but so far he couldn't detect anything suspicious. Well other than the fact the red head didn't have eyebrows. Lee must have stolen Gaara's eyebrows and that was why it looked like had dead caterpillars on his face. It didn't stay that way for long.

"Sasuke." Itachi's eyes widen and his grip tightens slightly as the energy in the room begins to swirl towards the altar in the center. He'd never felt anything quite like this before. It was as though all of the magic and heat in the room was being sucked into the sweetly smoking coals. The candles about the circle marking the cardinal points and a six-point star flicker as one of the gusts blows them all out.

"It's actually working." Sasuke blinks as he tries his best not to shiver as the air grows colder and the lights go out. "Hopefully, they're right and they're all friendly ghosts." He could feel the magic practically shimmer through the air of the room.

In the darkness, the circle glows brighter, the air freezing cold for a moment as the thinning veil tears open, expelling a human form of translucent light and the smoke from the altar. It stands, short, sandy blond hair framing soft eyes. A kindly young woman no older than Shisui slides down from the altar, touching the ground without a sound as she smiles at the redhead in the circle. "My baby..."

Kankuro coughs at that. "Well, babies." He smiles at their mother as she sets kind eyes on the two of them as well. Temari didn't waste any time in elbowing the middle Sabaku sibling to shush.

"You've all grown so much." The last time Karura had seen her children in person, Gaara had been an infant, Kankuro and Temari toddlers. "I'm so proud." But behind her, the smoke begins to thicken again, so she ushers Gaara from the circle. "Come, let's join your brother and sister."

The red head nods as he scurries off with his mother. "We only recently joined this coven." It would have never occurred to him to bring someone back from the dead, even if only temporarily, without Naruto's encouragement.

"I know. We all know." She looks back to the circle, smiling as another figure appears from the smoke. "We all know. And we're so happy to come see you, even if only for a day." After all, they would all return when the celebrations ended. "The others will be here soon. They're all coming tonight. See?"

From the smoke appears the second figure, followed closely by a third. A man and woman, both with long, dark hair. The two wore formal Japanese kimono, and their pale eyes took only moments to find the cousins standing side by side.

Sasuke watches them and tilts his head. They seemed... vaguely familiar somehow. "I guess we know who Naruto was referring to." Something that was subtly hidden in their features and not so subtly in the way their eyes practically glowed. "Do you think we're related somehow?"

"I don't know...perhaps it is a possibility." And Itachi was notorious for knowing just about everything. "But I do believe that I know who they are related to." He glances at Neji and his blue-haired cousin. They had the same eyes. Clearly a family trait, if not their own. Not that he could say definitively that theirs was. After all, they were disowned just for practicing. They were the Uchiha's black sheep.

Sasuke nods at that. "Yeah." It was obvious by who they were now clinging to as much as ghosts could cling to someone. A bluenette and a man with long hair were the newest receiptants of ghost cuddles.

Upon the last pair leaving the circle, an elderly woman with strawberry blond hair materializes, followed by a young man with white hair. One by one, spirits appeared from the smoke, leaving the circle to reunite with their living loved ones.

Eventually, the only one left alone was Naruto, who swallowed thickly as the smoke wavered. For several long, excruciating moments, nothing happened. The blond bit his lip, closing his eyes. It was fine...it was a fine...everything was fine... Though he couldn't stop a tear from trickling down his cheek as the seconds stretched on.

Sasuke had to admit that it was Naruto and Gaara who he was most concerned about. The red head was staring at the woman next to him and his siblings with poorly concealed disbelief. But the woman was quite obviously, his mother.

But Naruto was on the verge of tears. Whoever he had summoned hadn't shown up yet.

A warn breeze circles back out into the room, and a mane of white hairs pills out of the smoke. "Did ya miss me, squirt!?" And Naruto nearly had a goddamn heart attack. Sapphire eyes shoot open, spilling a couple more tears as he stares at a giant of a man with a giant twisted grin on his face.

Naruto twitches, but holds back his urge to try and fail to smack his godfather for his damn entrance. "Knock it off, you big old PERVERT! I almost thought you weren't coming!"

"Well you know there was a bit of a traffic jam." He chuckles as he walks over towards Naruto. "It's a busy day for our kind and I'm not just a big pervert, I'm THE big pervert and I am NOT old." He strikes a dramatic, heroic pose.

The foxy blond deadpans. "Remind me why I bother summoning you again."

"Because I am THE great Jiraiya!" He grins.

"The great OLD PERVERT is more like it." Though even as he rolls his eyes, Naruto cracks a small smile. "...I missed you, you old toad."

The reunion was strange, but sweet Sasuke thinks to himself. Whoever the old pervert actually was, Jiraiya attempts to hug Naruto as the youngest Uchiha senses something. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but somehow he doubted the lecher was the last of their visiting spirits.

Itachi was thinking along the same lines, particularly when the smoke thickened again, more so than for any of the arrivals before. he narrows his eyes peering into the smoke with glowing crimson eyes as, rather than one figure appearing at a time, two spirits form from the smoke together, the taller of the two holding the other in his arms. And he was almost alarmed when he saw that the faces of the two newcomers were younger even than Sasuke. And he had a sinking feeling...that the man was not Naruto's brother.

"His parents." Sasuke bites his lower lip at what that means. "They must have died when he was a baby." How else could one explain their age.

"Yes, I believe that is the case." And Itachi's belief was solidified by the expression on Naruto's face as he noticed the two new faces around his godfather's form.

Naruto's face softens, the laughter fading, but the air warming with gentle magic. "Mom..." The redhead's smile was bright and playful and all teeth. "Dad..." The blond man's was equally bright, but far calmer and focused in his own sapphire eyes.

"MY BABY!" Kushina throws herself at Naruto, only to pout when she goes straight through him. "Well, I suppose it was worth a shot..."

Sapphire eyes roll, and not just one pair, but two. "You do that every damn time..." And damn it, Naruto wished that he could hold his mom, or be held by his mom, or just...touch her somehow. But he could talk to her, joke with her, laugh with her, so he would take what he could get. "You know, one of these days, you're going to figure out what physics are."

She scoffs as though that was a ridiculous notion. "One day physics will know not to mess with me." Which it was to her.

"We're here to spend time with our son, Kushina. Arguments with the laws of physics can wait." Minato steps up behind Kushina, circling transparent arms around her waist. "Besides, everyone is here now, and it's time for the kids to have their fun." Though he does note the new summoning room. "You moved again, Naruto?"

The younger, sort of, blond rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, you know..stuff happened and we decided to pick up and move. So...we're kinda on the other side of the planet now..."

Jiraiya grins at them. "I suppose you might have overdone it in college a bit." He chuckles as he looks around. "Nice place though."

And once more, Naruto deadpans. "Wait till you see the actual house part." How this man had raised him until he was sixteen, Naruto still didn't understand. But hey, he'd gotten this far, hadn't he? "Anyway, the party's upstairs, so let's go." It was finally time to kick this festival into high gear.

* * *

A short while later, the festivities were in full swing. That meant Itachi and Shisui had snuck off to do Goddess only knew what together while Sasuke was observing everything. He never thought he'd be invited to a party with actual ghosts before, but at least two of them were staring at him a lot and he could tell they were whispering about him. Oh and they just had to be Naruto's parents, to boot.

"So, you're the one that that the squirt was making out with earlier, right?" Jiraiya pokes his head out of the wall, grinning at the young Wiccan.

"The Hell?!" Sasuke almost lands on his backside in a far less than dignified manner. "One, don't sneak up on a guy like that. Two, especially with magic. Three...didn't realize voyeurs were a thing where you come from."

"No voyeurism, just an impossibly honest brat. Though I guess this means that you did more than just get the peck that Naruto mentioned." Jiraiya smirks at the sight of the agitated kid. "I figured as much, judging by all the looks he's been shooting you."

Great. Naruto's grandfather was probably going to tattle on Sasuke for making out with Sir Foxy. "It wasn't...THAT much more than that." There might be some hickeys though. Maybe he should do a concealment spell. Though Sasuke wasn't sure if ghosts could see through those automatically. He really needed to do some research about what spirits could and couldn't do.

Jiraiya's grin widens. "Well, if he had to go for a man, at least he has good taste." Jiraiya personally didn't see the appeal in a man's junk other than his own, but at least this Uchiha kid wasn't ugly by any stretch. "So, how'd you meet the kid?"

Sasuke wasn't really sure how to take that. It was probably a compliment in the other man's mind though. He was just from a different generation and probably didn't mean any malice by that though. "At a restaurant." He'd probably leave it at that, but Goddess only knew what sort of information the ghost had access to. Best to come clean, even if Sasuke hadn't done anything wrong. "Shisui, my brother's boyfriend, works there. So we were picking him up for work and Naruto happened to be there."

Jiraiya snorts at the mental image. "Of course you did. That kid always did love his food." Though, speaking of the kid, it looked like he was finally freeing up from his yearly reunion with the hothead and her zen husband. "I hope you're ready for the inquisition. Kushina loves her brat, and Minato might not look it, but he's even more protective than she is."

This ought to be illegal. Sasuke hadn't even been out on an official date with Naruto and he was about to be interrogated by his parents. Who were GHOSTS?! Still, he tries to maintain his poker face as he gives a polite nod to Jiraiya.

"Good luck, kid." Jiraiya grins as he eyes Sakura's ghostly grandmother. Now that was a lady with nice curves. "Seems later." He floats off, a glint in his eyes, only to be replaced by two new faces steadily coming closer.

Sasuke barely refrains from gulping as Naruto's parents came closer. This just wasn't fair.

"Now Kushina, be gentle with the young man. They're still in the getting to know one another stage." Minato places a hand on his wife's transparent shoulder as they walk up to the young man their son had expressed so much interest in. "There's no need to subject him to a full inquisition yet."

There was every need to do so. "That just makes the inquisition more effective." Besides, if he was scared off that easily he wasn't good enough for her baby.

Sasuke sighs as he closes the rest of the gap. "Hello." It was best to face them voluntarily.

The redhead looks the young man up and down assessingly. "So, my baby likes you enough to invite you here for the weekend. I know that my baby is friendly, but you must be pretty special if he invited another coven here. He's never done that before." He also hadn't taken interest in people outside of his coven for years now. "How did you earn that much trust so quickly?"

"I honestly don't know." Sasuke figures it was best not to lie to her. "We met at a restaurant and once we established we weren't from hostile covens, he invited us."

Kushina smiles at the answer. "I see." Good, the boy didn't lie. She hated liars. "Then why don't you tell me why you were kissing my little boy before you've even gone on a first date yet?"

"..." Great. Now, she thought he was a pervert. "Naruto kissed me first..." Damn it. Now he sounded like a kid.

Not a great surprise, but Kushina wasn't about to let this boy know that. "Do you plan on getting to third base before or after the third date?"

Minato shakes his head. The poor boy looked about ready to have a heart attack. "Kushina." He needed to corral his wife at least somewhat.

"These are important questions, Minato. Don't pretend you don't want to ask them too!" Kushina bats aside her husband and focuses back on the boy who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Now, how good are you with kids? Because one of these years, I want to see Naruto with babies. So if you're not good with children, that's going to be an issue. Also, my baby is very adventurous and reckless, and he likes it on the rough side, so you'll need to be firm with him."

Sasuke blinks. Was this a ghost or a hurricane? "..." For a second, he couldn't respond at all just due to the shock. "I'm an elementary school teacher." That should answer that question. "I teach the fourth grade." That would answer the next two that she was likely to ask. "Um noted on the...other things."

Oh, a teacher, that could be good. "Then you know how to handle reckless children, good. Now you just need to learn how to handle a reckless Naruto." She liked this one. Of course, she'd liked the others, but this one...maybe Naruto had sensed something special about this boy. He had a knack for that, and the coven he'd gathered was proof enough.

"Now, his favourite foods are ramen and barbecued meat. He loves his sandwiches, but he's very bad with eating his green food. He loves sweets a bit too much, but he's always been an energetic boy, so the calories don't bother him. He's also very social, but he hasn't been able to make friends outside of the coven for a long time, so be careful about anyone who tries to get close to him. If they seem suspicious, destroy them. And also..." she gets right up in his face with a dark grin. "Hurt him, and I promise that I will haunt you from the grave and drive you completely insane."

That was very specific. He looks at Minato bemusedly. To which the older blonde shrugs good naturedly. "I suppose by next year, she'll have an formal biography about our boy ready for you." He wouldn't put it past her. "Though all that is of course true, I wouldn't have laid that all on you at once."

"Oh hush, if he can't handle it, then it just means that he's not the one for my baby." Kushina crosses her arms defiantly. "You know how Naruto can be. If this one is even a little serious, then he needs to be prepared. And if he can't handle it after all, then it's better if he figures that out sooner and not later so that I can find Naruto someone better."

Again, why did Sasuke feel like a stallion at a state fair? "I guess it's good to be warned in advance." This was weird. Very weird.

"Yes, it is." Though Kushina's eyes light up in amusement as a bubbly blond finally escapes from the throng of people and darts over. Interesting...

"Mom!" Sapphire eyes flash with annoyance as Naruto looks between his parents and his newest...friend. "What have you been telling Sasuke? He looks totally freaked out!" He plants himself between them, pouting and glaring in equal measure.

"Everything." Sasuke looks at Naruto. "I'm shocked I don't know your blood type yet."

Naruto rolls his eyes and crosses his arms. "Sakura already knows it, and it's not that important unless I end up in the hospital."

"Which you've done. Fifteen times, from what I remember." Kushina crosses her arms, equally as stubborn as Naruto. "He's Type B, by the way."

"Good to know." In case of emergencies. Though next, the woman was probably going to tell him what size condom Naruto wore. Sasuke sincerely hoped that things wouldn't get that creepy.

"Alright, now you kids have fun, and remember what I said about being good to Naruto." As soon as Kushina said it, Naruto's face turned a brig tight shade of red. He had a pretty good idea as to what his mother would say to his prospective...well, they'd get to that part later. Maybe. Hopefully...

Minato shakes his head and leads his wife away from them. Muttering something to her. Probably trying to get her to behave.

With his parents now finally out of range, Naruto swallows nervously, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he turns to face Sasuke. "So...uh...sorry about...them. Mom can be a bit...intense." And she might have just ruined his chances with the hot teacher.

"Yes, definitely intense." He rubs the back of her head. "Though I think she can only cross over once a year, so she probably wanted to get everything out in the open before the clock ran out."

Naruto wasn't about to point out that technically, they could summon spirits at any time of the year, though it took more effort to do it outside of the feasts of Samhain and Beltane. "And now you see why I can't have a normal boyfriend. Most regular people barely understand what we do. I'm pretty sure that meeting ghosts would freak any regular person out. And then there's the whole haunting thing, and they might get scared that I'd curse them or something, and then try to get me arrested. and then they'd be trying to prove the whole magic thing, because most people don't believe in it, and They'd be trying to pin the whole ghost thing on me..." Naruto was started to get lightheaded now.

Sasuke blinks and wonders if he should take Naruto to a hospital. For the moment though, he just nudges the blond onto the nearest couch. He didn't want the other man to pass out on him. "You alright?" He looks at Naruto with concern.

Upon hitting the couch cushions, the blond abruptly stops babbling and nods his head back and forth as he breathes deeply. "Yeah...I'm..." He takes a few more deep breaths, then closes his eyes. The anxiety did like to creep up on him during his most emotional days. "I'm...I'm okay..."

"Good." Sasuke smiles at him. "I'm glad. I'm sure you love your parents and everything, but let's not have you join them this quickly."

"...Yeah, right." Naruto smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Though I can't say I've ever had to go through a Meet the Parents session with someone I'm not even dating yet."

Yeah. He couldn't disagree there. "Me neither." He smiles."So I guess we were each other's firsts in a way."

"You make that sound way more romantic than it felt." Naruto finally laughs softly and lays his head against the back of the couch. "Besides, I dunno about you, but I'm pretty sure that most of my firsts are long gone."

"Shocking." Sasuke smirks. "Would have thought your mother would have haunted them for even thinking about touching you."

"She IS haunting them." Naruto glances over to where Kushina is lurking around some of his coven. "She just doesn't do anything to them because, first, she can't, and second, she still likes them because they're good people." His eyes drift back to Sasuke, glowing faintly from the magic punch he'd indulged in again. "Is...that something that turns you off? Do you like virgins better?"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "I'm twenty-five." He shakes his head. "I prefer to date people roughly in the ballpark of my own age. I don't expect to find many people with their chastity belts intact after college."

"Good, cause that would be a sucky deal-breaker." Naruto shoots the man a foxy grin and leans forward to peck Sasuke on the lips, mirroring his earlier prank. This time, though, he just leans back and keeps grinning.

Sasuke shakes his head in amusement and kisses Naruto. "Since your parents already inquisitioned me, I kinda earned this kiss." That and more really, but Sasuke wouldn't go beyond what they had already before they were even official. "Well to be honest, it was mostly your mother." Almost exclusively so really.

Naruto laughs. And presses back into it. Yeah, I'd say that you definitely earned it for facing down the Red-Hot Habanero and living to tell the tale."

He smirks as he returns the kiss. Though there was just one problem with indulging in the pleasure that Naruto's exceptional kissing skills brought. "We should be careful." He shakes his head in amusement. "If we go much further, we'll have to walk down the aisle before New Years."

The chuckle gets caught in Naruto's throat. "Well, we'll just have to wait and see, I guess." Though that was assuming that the coven didn't have to pick up and move again by New Years. "Though I'm sure that you would look gorgeous in a fluffy...frilly...lacy white dress."

Sasuke scowls at him. "Just how much have you had to drink?" White maybe, but frilly and lacy dresses?!

"About four times as much as you, at least." Naruto pats his stomach appreciatively. "Liver of steel, right here."

No wonder his mother was quick to try to find him someone to look after him. Naruto would be dead before thirty at this rate. Sheesh. How much alcohol could one liver handle? "Yep. You're definitely trying to join them early." He shakes his head in disbelief. "That much?!"

Okay, now Naruto found that underestimation of his abilities mildly offensive. But mostly annoying. "Hey, you had like...two glasses. Besides, Sakura's magic vodka hasn't poisoned anybody yet. It's totally safe. It's not like it can get contaminated when she makes it in her closet."

"I mean if you're drinking that much regularly, magically or otherwise it's going to trash your liver." Sasuke shakes his head at him.

"Nuh uh, I'm fine." Naruto grins lazily. "Hm...you know what?"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at that. "What?" Goddess only knew what was going on in Naruto's mind now.

"You're really pretty. Kinda like the moon." Naruto snickers quietly as he closes his eyes, exhausted from the earlier spell. Opening a rip between dimensions was serious business, you know.

He kisses the ridiculously adorable blond's forehead. "You're drunk off your ass, but you're a sweet drunk. " It was no wonder why Kushina was so protective of him.

Not far away, dark eyes watch over the youngest of their trio protectively, a smile visible in the soft gaze. Sasuke was being rather social tonight, odd, considering that he had few friends to speak of, and his job kept him quite busy. But maybe this could be therapeutic for him, a way to relieve some tension and have a healthy relationship, rather than pitifully short ones. "They've gotten attached rather quickly."

"Physical chemistry is a powerful force." Shisui chuckles and shakes his head. "Don't push it, Itachi. Things seem to be going well with them for now."

"I know, I know..." Itachi leans back into Shisui's gentle hold. "But I will hope for them anyway." He tilts his head back, smiling as he presses their lips together. "He is my foolish little brother, after all."

He nods in understanding. Though Shisui knew Itachi. There were few things he enjoyed more than meddling when it came to Sasuke. "Of course." He smiles. "Though best not to book a wedding venue just yet."

"I won't." Itachi smirks slightly. "But I'll at least come up with a few themes." After all, if this worked out, then their family might very well grow a bit larger. For now, though, he'd plot his own wedding, along with his after-finals proposal.


	5. Chapter 5

Itachi watches with amusement as his foolish little brother's rosy cheeks darken a little more with each passing hour. This celebration was clearly not one to be underestimated. This coven had spent nearly twenty-eight of the last thirty-six hours eating and dancing and playing games...and drinking. There was a lot of drinking to be had here, and Itachi was fairly certain that this coven had somehow produced enough magical alcohol for a small army. The perk? As far as Itachi could see, not one person had managed to get a hangover yet, not even his lightweight of a little brother sitting snuggled in Naruto's lap for a few last rounds of poker.

And Itachi was fairly certain that Sasuke was going to make a vow after this party to never play strip poker again. Especially when he would learn that Itachi had obtained some rather interesting blackmail material.

Of course, he averts his eyes entirely when Sasuke's pants come off, focusing his gaze instead on his own lover. "It seems that the closing festivities are now in full swing."

Sasuke rolls his eyes at Itachi. "I heard that and I still have my boxers." At the very least, he could leave with some dignity. "I'm out." It wasn't that he was embarrassed about his body. But Itachi would never let him hear the end of it if he actually lost his boxers too.

Shisui shakes his head in amusement. Itachi didn't know when to let sleeping dogs lay sometimes. More specifically, a semi intoxicated Sasuke. "It seems so." He nods at Itachi. "We should probably make a tactful exit soon." Otherwise, potions or not, Shisui wasn't sure any of them would be fit to drive.

"Hm...true." Itachi looks out the window, noting that it was nearly dawn. The festivities would be ending soon, and while he doubted that staying a bit longer to sleep or sober themselves up a bit more would be unwelcome In this extremely friendly group, he was more than a little exhausted from their first massive exposure to this boisterous coven. Though, at the very least, they'd learned how their newest neighbours operated. The next nearest coven was a few cities over, so there was nothing really to worry about. "We'll leave in an hour. I can drive, I've had the least alcohol of the three of us, and I've already asked Sakura for a mixture that will help to metabolize the rest from my system quickly."

"That's useful." Shisui barely refrains from rolling his eyes. "She is aware of the kind of mixture you prefer in the bedroom, I trust?" One that didn't involve women. He trusted Itachi completely, but it would hardly be the first time that a straight woman had hit on him and Itachi tended to come off as rather friendly when he was interested in something from an academic perspective such as a magical hangover cure.

Itachi chuckles softly and wraps Shisui's arms tightly around him. "Yes, she is well aware of my preference. Our conversation was almost purely academic and her studies interest me greatly. She has given me one of her handwritten recipe books to look through and I have promised her a look into my compendium of invocation magic. It truly is an academic connection, and you know very well how rare it is to find so many practitioners of this quality, particularly who are this accessible." He leans back and kisses Shisui hotly. "Besides, it isn't her name that I love to scream in bed."

"You're fortunate that you're such an exceptional kisser." Shisui returns the gesture and allows himself to sigh in pleasure at it. "All that babbling made me think you had quite the guilty conscience."

"Oh, I certainly could plead guilty to many things." Itachi presses back against Shisui, pleased by the attention his lover's body was paying to him. "Most of which concern my conspiratorial thoughts about precisely what I could do to make your jealousy evaporate entirely."

Well as tempting as that did sound, Shisui wasn't quite up to THAT degree of PDA. "Then perhaps we should leave earlier than expected." He glances towards Sasuke. "I think your brother is growing a little green around the gills at our display anyway."

That was mildly disappointing, but Itachi could certainly enact his plans in private. "Very well. Then let's collect Sasuke. The potion has cleared my senses enough now that there should be no trouble on the way home." And then there was the fact that Itachi wasn't entirely sure that magical alcohol would affect a breath test in the same way as ordinary alcohol. He would have to research that while he went through the book. "We also have much of a weekend of sex to catch up on."

Shisui shakes his head in amusement. What on earth was he going to do with Itachi? "Alright." He gets up and stretches as he saunters over to Sasuke for Itachi's benefit. "Shall we be heading home then?"

Naruto pouts, already upset with Sasuke for wiggling out of his lap to put all of his clothes back on. "Wish the weekend lasted longer..." Each and every time, it always felt like everything was over way too soon.

If it had lasted any longer, Sasuke never would have lived it down. "So I guess we'll see you around." That was awkward, but in all honesty what was he supposed to say.

"Oh, you'll definitely see us around." Naruto grins and tugs Sasuke in for one more kiss. "That much, I can definitely promise you. Believe it!"

"You're like a puppy that followed me home." Sasuke returns the kiss as he chuckles. "Good to know though."

Well, more like a fox than a puppy, but Naruto could roll with that. "If you ever wanna share furs, let me know. I'm a very friendly puppy."

Friendly and maybe color blind. Sasuke still couldn't believe Naruto's type had been pink at some point. Then again, maybe he should have expected it. Naruto was like sugar, sunshine, and rainbows given human form. "I"m sure you are." He tilts his head. "Though how do I know you're house trained?"

Naruto's eyes darken, his eyes sliding halfway shut. "I dunno. I guess you'll have to break me in and find out."

"I'll think about it." He smirks.

Itachi chuckles as he walks over, sliding an arm around Shisui and glancing knowingly at his brother. "Come, it's time to go." It was both amusing and cute to watch Sasuke play with the other young man like a couple of puppies, but he and Sasuke had to catch up on some sleep before work the next day. And Shisui could likely use some before work and after sex.

Dark eyes flick to Naruto, and the elder brother's mouth curls accordingly. "It has been a most enjoyable weekend, Naruto. And I'm sure that we'll all be getting to know each other much better in the future."

"Yeah, totally." Which reminded Naruto of a couple of things. "We're doing stuff for Christmas, New Years, and Imbolc as well, so if you guys are free, you can come on over and we'll have another party." He figured that a standing invitation would just be better for covering all his bases.

"Sure." Sasuke nods as he heads off with his family. Naruto would con him into staying longer with those puppy eyes, if they didn't make a hasty exit.

Naruto smiles as he sees the three out the door, closing it behind them and blowing out a long breath. That was...awesome. Sasuke was just...perfect. Sarcastic and funny, a bit of an asshole, but he cared when it counted and managed to survive the hurricane that was his mom. He made Naruto feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Though Naruto also pointedly ignored the many smirks and giggles that erupted across the room. They had a feast to finish up and some ghosts to send back until next year.

And damn, would he miss them...

* * *

 

Itachi towels off his hair as he walks out into the kitchen, the smell of rice and stir-fry summoning him from his bath. Maybe Sasuke would never be quite the chef Shisui was, but Itachi hadn't found any fault with his foolish little brother's cooking in years. "That smells good, Sasuke."

"Thanks." He nods at Itachi. "I think all that drinking somehow made me hungry." Who really knew what all were in those drinks.

"That's quite likely, seeing as you did more drinking than eating at the party." Though calling it merely a party might have been a bit of a stretch, Itachi wasn't a about to call it a step away from Armageddon. That would just insult the hosts. "I would ask you if you enjoyed yourself, but I believe that we both know what that answer would be." Itachi's eyes glint with amusement. "After all, you have yourself a new puppy to have fun with now."

Shisui chuckles and casts Sasuke a sympathetic glance at that. While he appreciated the sympathy, it wouldn't save him from Itachi. His brother would never let him hear the end of that. "You could say that." Sasuke stirs the meal he was cooking.

Of course Itachi wasn't going to let Sasuke hear the end of it. He would be remiss in his big brother duties if he failed to tease his little brother about his latest flame. "If you wish to house-train your puppy, however, I would ask that you soundproof your room first. I imagine that he yips rather loudly."

"You would know." Sasuke rolls his eyes. "You and Shisui never shut up. It's almost impossible to get any sleep around here."

"And you are bitter that the two of us have a healthy sex life, while you...do not." If Sasuke was going to prod at him like that, Itachi would prod right back and enjoy every second of it.

Healthy was putting it pretty mildly. Sasuke would have used quite a few more colorful descriptions. In multiple languages. "I'm not bitter about it." He shrugs. "I'm just saying, you should cast soundproofing spells before telling me to do it."

Itachi shrugs, glancing at his lover with a wicked smirk on his face. "Shisui is exceptionally skilled at making me forget to use such courtesies."

Shisui laughs at that. "You're exceptionally good for my ego." He kisses Itachi.

"Yes, I imagine I am." Though Itachi doubted that Shisui's only intention was to kiss the smirk off his face. "Now, we should eat before you have to leave for work. I do not count as a full meal." At least, not the one Shisui needed to be functional for his job.

Shisui laughs and nods as he starts eating with Itachi once Sasuke finishes with the food. It was a typical comment at breakfast for them.

Dark eyes soften as Itachi watches his brother and his lover enjoying their food. Of course, he was enjoying his own food, but he had something of a habit of people-watching. Sasuke would call it spying or eavesdropping, but Itachi firmly believed in being fully aware of your surroundings at all times. their very first encounter with Naruto had proven that to be a wise philosophy.

But there was one matter that perhaps it might now be wise to discuss. They had slept, bathed, and now were eating. Their minds were clear and focused, unlike much of the past weekend. "So, tell me, what do the two of you think of Naruto's standing invitation to their future celebrations?"

"I'm not entirely sure my liver could handle it." Shisui laughs. "I wouldn't keep Sasuke away from his new suitor though."

"Perhaps some caution with the drinks would be a wise decision." Though Itachi could certainly agree with Shisui's point. Keeping Sasuke away from his new suitor would be extremely counter-productive. "And I suppose this is all the more reason to finish my end of semester grading promptly." He would have to set the exam for early in the exam period. Or perhaps a take-home exam to be submitted online would be best.

"You're way too invested in my love life, Itachi." Sasuke raises an eyebrow after he finishes eating. "It's bordering on creepy."

"I worry for your emotional wellbeing, and perhaps the right lover could help pull out the pole you've lodged firmly up your backside." Honestly, Itachi could understand working hard and being dedicated to your goals, but sometimes it felt as though Sasuke had no life outside of work and their small family.

"Ironic considering you spend the majority of your day with another kind of pole..." Never mind. It was beneath him. "I'll see you two later. I don't want to be late to my own class."

Itachi snickers at the absolutely terrible excuse. His brother must have drunk more than he thought. "Sasuke...I believe that you're forgetting something."

"What?" Sasuke looks at Itachi in confusion.

"It's Sunday."

* * *

 

A few days later, Sasuke sighs in relief as the final bell for the day rang. He loved teaching most of the time, he truly did. But after spending the majority of the day behind his desk, the youngest Uchiha was more than happy to scurry off alongside his students and eventually separate himself from 'the pack' after they got on their buses. It was a beautiful day for a walk. Soon enough, it would grow colder and well, Sasuke decides it was in his best interest to take advantage of the cool autumn weather before it became bitter cold.

"Just what I needed." Sasuke knew talking to himself wasn't particularly healthy, but whatever. It was nice to get some fresh air and clear his head.

This was the time of day when downtown started springing back to life. High school students, especially roamed the streets at this time of the afternoon, crowding malls and arcades and the movie theatre. Weaving through the small crowds of students was a head of bright golden blond hair, accompanied by the occasional camera flash as it moved towards one of the cafes.

Thoughts of the party were rarely far from his mind even without Shisui's and Itachi's prompting. That's when he notices the blond and a flashing camera. Sasuke blinks as if to make sure he wasn't imagining it. No, he definitely wasn't imagining it. It was Naruto.

The infectious smile the blond usually sports was gleaming brightly as he took a picture of a young couple hugging and giggling gleefully, the young man spinning the woman about in his arms. The energy in the air was tangible, just the way he liked it.

Was he a photographer or was it just a hobby, Sasuke wonders to himself? Either way, he finds himself moving closer. "Hey." He probably shouldn't have, but it was like the other Wiccan was exerting some kind of magentic pull on him.

"Hm?" Naruto looks up from the camera and glance over towards the familiar voice. "Sasuke?" Wow, that sure was a coincidence. He clicks through a few more pictures and finds the best one, showing it to the couple for brief approval before they take off, giggling to themselves as if they knew a secret the rest of the world didn't. Then he glances back at the newest person threatening him with detention. "Hey, whatcha doing here?"

"I was just going for a walk." He smiles at him. "So hobby or vocation?" The raven haired man glances at the camera curiously.

"Both. Today it's the latter." Naruto grins as he lets the camera rest comfortably against his side. "Sweet-talked myself into a job with the local paper about a week ago. Showed them my portfolio, and they sent me out here to grab photos to run with all of the stories this week as a test run. They said that if I'm fast, they'll put me on a weekly column as well. Might as well put my degree in journalism and photography to use, right?"

Sasuke nods at that. He knew that journalism was a tough business to get into. "Yeah." Gone were the days were every town had a local paper and interning forever wasn't an appealing option.

"What, were you hoping I shot porn instead?" Naruto wiggles his eyebrows. "That's more of a private hobby."

He hadn't known Naruto that long. So it was hard to tell if he was serious. "I don't put on those sorts of shows for cameras." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Not even for private collections. School teacher, remember?" God help him, if he did something like that and the tape somehow went public.

Naruto chuckles at Sasuke's sense of propriety. "It's all good. Wouldn't want any of my family to stumble across that anyway." He looks Sasuke up and down, grinning away. "Besides, I can think of things I'd much rather do than shoot porn."

He could feel more people turning to look at them. Sasuke couldn't blame anyone from staring. Eyes like Naruto's didn't come along often and he was sure they stood in stark contrast with each other. Had he been a more poetic individual, he might have said it was very reminiscent of the Sun and Moon, but he wasn't. So he didn't. "Good to know." He smirks at him. "That might have been a deal breaker."

"Well, I wouldn't want you to think I can't keep up my end of a deal." Naruto snickers softly, then tilts his head towards the nearby cafe. "What do you say we grab something to drink and a bite to eat. I'm done with the first list of photos I have to take for Monday, and I'll probably take a few more before heading home."

Sasuke smirks at that. "Such a good puppy." He starts to walk off with Naruto. "Yeah. That sounds nice though." Interacting with Naruto in a normal environment, where they weren't being watched by their respective covens.

"Arf! Arf!" Naruto shakes his head as though waving floppy ears around. "Are you gonna tell me to sit next? Stay? Or maybe shake a paw?"

"I could always train you to play fetch." Sasuke smirks at him.

"I'd like to see you try." Naruto chortles as he steps up to the counter and orders a hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, whipped cream, and sprinkles, along with a giant strawberry muffin.

He blinks at the sheer amount of sugar. "I'm sure I could." He orders a strawberry muffin of his own and a regular coffee. "I could always tell you to fetch the condom." That ought to teach Naruto who was boss.

"Now that's something I think I could learn how do to." Naruto grins teasingly as the barista fills up a sugary cup of goodness for him and hands it across the counter. "And maybe I can teach you that cream and sugar make coffee a lot better than that bitter black stuff."

Sasuke quirks an eyebrow. Naruto was cute, but that was simply not happening. Sasuke knew his tastebuds by now. "I've never been a fan of sweet things." He shrugs. "Present company excluded, of course."

Oh, now Naruto could work with that. "Okay, then I guess you just need me to make you sweeter." He grins widely and strides towards a corner table, waving his hips teasingly. "Wouldn't want you to turn out as bitter as your coffee."

"You're way too serious about coffee preferences." Sasuke shakes his head as he kisses Naruto's cheek. "Probably a habit you picked up from Sakura since she likes mixing potions so much." Maybe, that was why that sheer volume of sugar hadn't killed him yet.

"Nope, I blame the old pervert for the hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, Hinata for the whipped cream, Sakura for the sprinkles, and Gaara for the muffins." And Naruto just got happier with every addition his loved ones made to his sugar habits. "They'd say it was a team effort. Except Gaara, he'll deny any part in it."

"I knew there was a reason why Gaara appeared to be the sanest of the lot of you." Sasuke snorts.

"I dunno, you haven't seen him go all psycho yet, so I'd reserve judgment until you get to know us better." Naruto sips at his hot chocolate as he sits down. "Which you might, if you drop by during the holidays."

Naruto was far from a subtle person. Which had its pros and cons. At the moment though, it was strangely endearing. "Mm I'll think about it." Sasuke smirks as he drinks his dark coffee.

"Great!" Naruto bobs his head back and forth to the quiet sounds of music in the cafe. "So what got you into teaching, anyway? I mean, I got into journalism because I love talking to people. But teaching takes a lot of patience, and..." Naruto looks Sasuke up and down, remembering the chase that took place after he snatched a kiss. "You don't really seem all that patient."

"I'm more patient with kids than I am with puppies." He laughs at the thought. "Itachi went into teaching and I always excelled in school. Had a lot of teachers I despised and knew I could do better."

"Be a better asshole than all the assholes, right?" Naruto could get that. And it spoke to something deeper in Sasuke that he really liked. "So, that must mean that you gotta answer a lot of weird questions, right? Kids ask seriously freaky stuff 's like...where do they even hear some of the shit that they say, right?"

Sasuke snorts at that question and shakes his head. "Something like that." There was no way he was explaining some of the more cringeworthy questions. "You're right though. That happens sometimes." He wouldn't believe the stuff that came out of the mouths of ten year olds.

Oh more than sometimes, and Naruto knew it. "Geez, I feel like I was the kind of student that you would have wanted to gag in class every day with all the questions I was asking. That, or give me permanent detention." The things that came out of his mouth when he was a kid would have made a sailor blush. "I blame the old perv, though."

"I'd definitely give you a permanent detention, but for far different reasons." Sasuke barely manages not to snicker.

"Oh yeah?" Naruto's eyelids flutter halfway shut over the rim of his mug. "I wonder what buttons I gotta push to get you to tell me what those reasons are."

"I'm pretty sure you already know them." He smirks at the eyelid move. "That or at least most of them."

"Good to know." Naruto could work with that. "Well, Teach, this puppy will wait eagerly for the first lessons to start. And I don't mind at all if you put me in detention. And I'm definitely looking forward to learning how to fetch faster...better...in different ways..."

He was certainly eager. Which was nice. Though Sasuke wasn't sure how fast he should move. He'd already moved pretty fast at the party though. "Good." He smiles, deciding to focus on a somewhat safer topic for now. "Are the puppy jokes getting to be too much?"

Now it's Naruto's turn to smirk. "Nah, they're cool. I used to get all the golden retriever jokes all the time. Still do sometimes. But...I think when you get to know me a bit better, you might see why fox jokes tend to get cracked around me."

"You're strange, but in a cute way." Sasuke places a chaste kiss against his lips.

"Thanks." Naruto hums softly as he returns the kiss, leaving a little of the whipped cream pressed in the seam of Sasuke's lips. "But being strange is in the job description. I am the leader of a Wiccan coven, after all. And maybe if you're good, or very, very bad, I'll let you pull on my tails."

"Your tails huh?" Sasuke quirks an eyebrow at that. "Sounds interesting."

Naruto smiles coyly, not deigning to answer the implied question. "Maybe after a few more dates." He presses his lips back against Sasuke's, this kiss decidedly less chaste than the one before.

Well, that was good to know. Sasuke returns the kiss happily. Naruto did have some restraint.

And Naruto certainly did, but not for the reasons Sasuke thought.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a month since his first date with Naruto and while the blonde was a forced of nature, that force of nature didn't stop other forces of nature. More specifically, they didn't stop Sasuke's stomach from growling. So that could mean only one thing. He, Itachi, and Shisui were going grocery shopping.

Itachi smirks and shakes his head at the expression on his foolish little brother’s face. “I know that you despise shopping, Sasuke, but those tomatoes you love don’t appear in the fridge by themselves. And it’s far faster to go shopping together than separately.” It also meant that they got more at once, but it wasn’t as though they couldn’t afford it.

"I don't see why you can't pick them up for me." He rolls his eyes.

“Because then Shisui and I would be stuck loading all of the groceries without you.” Even though Itachi already knew he’d won. After all, he’d gotten Sasuke to the store, even if Shisui had already darted off to the freezer aisles. “And you always end up wanting more than what is on your tiny list anyway, so instead of trying to read your mind and find out the full list, it’s simply easier to bring you along.”

He shakes his head and groans. "I guess someone has to keep you from frisking Shisui in the frozen section." Sasuke was only half joking. It had happened more than once. A lot more than once actually.

“It’s important to stay warm there. Body heat is best to stave off hypothermia.” Itachi had been unapologetic on every occasion, and this was no exception. “Besides, it’s not as if we’ve been caught.”

"You've been caught by me." Sasuke had been traumatized. "Several times."

“You are my little brother and a wiccan who can see past invisibility spells.” Itachi plucks several boxes of cereal from the shelves, preferring the flaked varieties that filled themselves with dried fruit. “You do not count.”

Sasuke would beg to different to that. "Tell that to the psychologist that I should probably start seeing after being so thoroughly traumatized." Sasuke glares at Itachi as his eyes scan the aisles for substance. Though he was lucky in a way. It was better to have Itachi tease him about his relationship with Shisui than to meddle in Sasuke's love life.

“Oh? Then should Shisui and I perhaps be scandalized by your own frisky behavior at Naruto’s Feast of Samhain?” If Sasuke wanted to play mind-fucking games, Itachi could play even harder. “After all, I know full well that since then, you and your blond puppy have been out on no less than nine dates, judging by which of your outfits I’ve seen in the wash.”

"You...do laundry inventory?" Sasuke blinks at Itachi as if he was actually an alien. "That's just creepy as Hell, Itachi. Stop doing that shit."

Itachi deadpans. “I DO the laundry, Sasuke. Because last I recall, you hate it.” With quite a passion, he might add. And Sasuke’s sorting and folding skills were atrocious.

"Well, of course, I hate it." He glares at Itachi for being a smart aleck. "Everyone does, but seriously only you would spy on people by checking what laundry they want washed."

“Only because I love you, Sasuke.” Itachi raises his fingers and pokes Sasuke’s forehead. “No go and pick out the fruits and vegetables. I’ll be going through the baking and spices sections.”

"Why do you always do that forehead thing?" He grumbles as he darts off to do exactly that.

Itachi chuckles as he watches Sasuke flee. “Because it annoys you, foolish little brother.” He pushes his cart forward and turns down the next aisle, leaving Sasuke to his own devices.

* * *

 

Sasuke shakes his head as he looks over some tomatoes. After all, it was very important to choose the best ones. They'd last longer that way. Besides, there was no reason to have sub par tomatoes.

A female hand appears next to him, picking up a bright red tomato and squeezing it gently. “You look like you know your tomatoes. Do you think this is a good one for making pasta?”

"It's decent." Sasuke glances at her. "The one to the left is better though." That was odd that a stranger would ask his advice on tomatoes, but her outfit was even odder. A fishnet shirt?

“Thanks.” She smirks coyly at him and put the tomato back, picking up the one right next to it. “With the way you were staring at them, I figured you were a tomato connoisseur. I got stuck on pasta duty for my friend’s party tonight and she’s insisting that there be no store-bought spaghetti sauce. Dunno how she does it, but she always seems to know the fucking difference.”

She was hitting on him then. "Well, good luck." The woman was probably somewhere between Itachi's and Shisui's age and while she technically probably didn't qualify as a 'cougar,' she was definitely roaring up the wrong tree. He wasn't interested in women and he had Naruto.

“Thanks. My name’s Anko.” She peers at him curiously. “You wouldn’t happen to know any blonds, would you? Tall, handsome, eyes like sapphires, and with more energy than a pack of puppies?”

"Doesn't ring a bell." The tomato thing might have been random, but that description was enough to send alarm bells ringing in his head. "Sorry."

“Too bad…I was hoping to say hi to Naruto.” She backs away slowly, the smirk still curling her lips as she picks out a few more tomatoes like the first. “You’ve got his energy all over you, you know. Be careful about that.”

"Be careful about saying random things to strangers about energy." Sasuke's eyes narrow at him. "They might think you're psychotic. I don't know who this Naruto is, but maybe I bumped into him while looking at tomatoes too. It seems there are a lot of people who can't tell a good tomato from a bad one."

And that was all Anko needed to know. “Oh well, guess I’ll just have to wait for him to finally get back to me. It’s been a while, so I was hoping we could catch up.” She turns and waves goodbye as she walks away. “Thanks for your help.”

"You're not welcome, Crazy Bitch." Sasuke scoffs and heads towards a bathroom. Going back to Itachi and Shisui would be almost as foolish as running to Naruto. Though he could alert them both. This was one place where Miss Fishnets was unlikely to follow him.

So he fires off the same text to all three of them immediately. **Crazy bitch named Anko asked me about Naruto. Said his energy was all over me and that she wanted to say hi to him. Dressed like an exotic dancer. Probably late twenties, short spiky hair and gray eyes. Avoid her.** That should do it. Now all he had to do was wait for them to answer.

The phone vibrates first with a text from his brother.

**Understood, will keep a look out for her. Best to keep an eye on her and not let her surprise anyone else. - Itachi**

**'Aye, Aye, Captain! - Shisui**

That was Shisui for you though, giddy and optimistic, at least on the outside.

Minutes pass, and the phone finally vibrates one more time.

**Anko? I think I recognize the name from somewhere, but I’m not totally sure where from. Could be someone from college, there were a few wiccans who went solo back then. But I’ll let the coven know. If something’s going down again, we’re ready for it. - Naruto**

**She's old enough that I doubt you knew her from college. - Sasuke**

Sasuke could only hope it was that simple.

**Alright, well we’ll throw the wards up around the house. You guys finish whatever you’re doing and get home. I’ll send someone over to make sure that you’re okay. - Naruto**

**Bad idea. She's probably going to stalk me or something. - Sasuke**

**Then I’ll send Sakura. No one messes with Sakura. - Naruto**

Sasuke tries to ignore his irritation that Sakura was the first one that Naruto apparently ran to when he thought there was trouble.

**I don't think it's a good idea to send anyone from your coven to our place right now. I'm telling you, this chick is not normal. - Sasuke**

Yeah. He knew that made him the jealous boyfriend and Naruto adored his coven and everything, but screw it. Sasuke was only human. Besides, jealousy aside, that didn't mean he wanted Sakura to actually put in real danger.

**Fine, Sakura AND Hinata. Hinata’s a master of invisibility, and Sakura’s our best rune-binder. They won’t be seen or caught, and you WILL be safe. They’ll fortify your place against whoever comes to you looking for us. Let me protect you. - Naruto**

**I'm trying to protect YOU, you lovable idiot! Besides, they'll need to cloak their magic as well as their physical forms. She can sense magic, even if it's not your own. - Sasuke**

There’s a long break and minutes tick by with no reply. Then, the phone finally vibrates one more time.

**We’re getting the teleportation spell ready, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes with our magic cloaked. - Naruto**

Sasuke wasn't happy about it, but unless he high tailed it to Itachi and Shisui, Naruto's group would be at their home before them.

**Fine. I'll tell Itachi and Shisui. - Sasuke**

* * *

 

Itachi raises an eyebrow as he unlocks the door to find three expected, and yet also unexpected visitors in his family’s apartment. Their presence, however, was not what perturbed him. Merely the efficiency with which the three were moving about, heads of blond, pink, and blue flying about sticking spell runs into the walls. Into the walls, as in making them vanish right through the drywall. “…It seems that our security system is being upgraded.”

Sasuke smacks his forehead and bites back a groan of frustration. "That's one way to look at it." Naruto being reckless was another. Sasuke wasn't Miss Fishnet's primary target, Naruto was. Which probably extended to his coven...

The elder brother strides inside, smiling amiably at Naruto as he passes into the kitchen. “Shisui, come help me put these groceries into the freezer.” Their guests had been here for over half an hour unsupervised and hadn’t destroyed anything, so Itachi saw no need to hover. Yet.

"Of course, My Love." Shisui swings and arm around Itachi and drags him off. After all, there was no reason not to make his claim obvious. Just in case anyone got any untoward ideas towards HIS Itachi.

Sakura rolls her eyes as she presses another engraved crystal into the wall. “Could he be any more obvious?”

"No and that's the point." Sasuke shrugs. Yeah the grocery store adventures were a little too much in his opinion, but he'd grown use to Itachi's and Shisui's love fest over the years. "Shisui and Itachi have always been rather territorial."

That explained a lot. It also makes Sakura roll her eyes. “At this point, you should just get them both collars and be done with it. Just ask Hinata, it works for her and Kiba.”

She was joking about that collar thing. At least that's what Sasuke thought until he looks over at the bluenette. "That's a little weird." It was one thing for couples to be into that sort of thing when the lights went off or in exotic nightclubs, but for every day wear?

Hinata blushes cherry red and hurries to the other side of the room to paint more runes on the wall with invisible belladonna extract.

Sasuke wanted to apologize, even though Sakura was the one who brought it up. "Great." He sighs and shakes his head. Now, things were probably going to be awkward between him and Hinata for awhile. Somewhat exotic accessories aside, he didn't mind the quiet witch.

Sakura moves on to the next support beam, fusing a crystal into the unseen wood as Naruto bounces back into the living room to help out. “Alright, Sasuke’s bedroom is done!”

"Great. How long is this going to take?" He crosses his arms at well, the entire production. It was the most dignified form of protest that Sasuke could think of at the moment. After all, Naruto might have taken some precautions, but he had just done somethings stupid. "I don't know if she'd followed us." He hadn't sensed anything, but Anko clearly had magic. Maybe, they weren't the only ones who could turn invisible. "Sticking around isn't safe."

Sapphire eyes roll and Naruto bounds up to Sasuke without hesitation. “Don’t worry, Sasuke, we’ve done this plenty of times before. The first ward we put up will let us know if anyone with magic comes within a mile of this place. There’ll be green lights flashing in the air if it’s you or Itachi or Shisui, blue if it’s someone from our coven, and red if it’s neither. The second ward will keep any magic in here from being detected from the outside, even if you’re using it to kick up a storm in here. Sakura and Hinata are just putting down a few more wards as early warning systems for things like natural disasters, magical creatures, and everything in between.”

Sasuke shakes his head. It somehow just annoyed him more that it was all so thorough, but logically he tries to shove that to the side. "I didn't really expect this from you, but you're a bit of a control freak." It was a good idea to have the place warded, considering Miss Fishnets was still out there. "You're lucky that you're cute." He brushes his lips against Naruto. After all, the blond meant well and while it was childish, yeah he wasn't immune from making a public claim anymore than Itachi and Shisui were. He was just as territorial as those two, but Sasuke liked to think he handled those impulses a bit better than them.

Naruto accepts the kiss with a pout. “I’m not a control freak, I’m just paranoid.” Though he was fine with the cute thing. He got that enough from the coven.

"If you were actually paranoid, you would have listened to me." Sasuke sighs as he caresses his cheek. "It'd probably be better, if we stuck to texts for awhile. Just to be on the safe side. She might be tailing one or both of us now."

“Yeah, okay.” Naruto sighs, knowing that there wasn’t much that he could do to change Sasuke mind short of something indecent in front of the four other people in the apartment. “But you promise to be careful, alright? These people are dangerous.”

Sasuke was about to argue Naruto was the one who needed to be more careful, but he thinks better of it. "We'll be careful. We've got the wards and aren't their primary target." Sasuke's eyes narrow. "Who are these people?"

Naruto’s eyes darken. “I don’t know if the chick you met is one of them, but there’s some bad people out there. If you don’t know about them, then it means you haven’t caught their notice yet, or you’re not worth their time. Do something they don’t like, and they’ll chase you to the ends of the Earth.” Literally. He would know.

"Naruto that could boilerplate apply to every comic book villain on the planet." Sasuke rolls his eyes. "That's not very specific. I can't avoid them, if I don't know who they are."

This…was not a conversation that Naruto wanted to have in front of his boyfriend’s brother. “Can we…go to your room to talk?”

"Alright." He gestures for Naruto to follow him.

The blond trails behind Sasuke nervously. He was undaunted by the idea of fighting off his enemies, but involving Sasuke in any way just…felt wrong. “So…you know that there are people after me.” He steps into the room and closes the door behind them. “What you don’t know is why.”

"Or who the hell they are, but yeah." Sasuke nods. "Why would also be good." He at a loss really. Not knowing what was going on wasn't sitting well with him

“Well, the who is pretty simple. It’s another coven…or I guess a group of wiccans and hunters who go after those of our kind who decide to get a little too…exotic with their experiments. Who break the taboos and touch magic that we’re not supposed to.” Which was obviously a kind of way putting it, but Naruto didn’t feel like insulting any of his friends. “People like me, like the people in my coven, the ones I protect because no one else will.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at that. "You're going to need to elaborate." That sounded almost cultish.

Naruto swallows nervously, closing his eyes and blocking Sasuke from his sight. “It’s not evil or anything like that, not like what they think it is. We just…don’t follow the rules very well. We like to experiment, to discover, to explore. And as long as we don’t hurt anybody, it should be fine, right?” Apparently not, because they’d been hunted across the globe. “Sakura likes to get her hands on…exotic materials, Hinata and Neji have no concept of privacy and like to try looking into the future a little too much. Kiba keeps all the wrong kinds of pets.” He takes a breath. “See where I’m going with this?”

"I see. Is it really worth it to be hunted like this?" Sasuke could understand to a degree. He'd left his parents behind in favor of magic, Itachi, and Shisui, but Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha had never tried to kill them over that decision.

A dark laugh falls from Naruto’s lips. “You say that like I have a choice about it. It doesn’t matter what I do or don’t do, the damage is done, I can’t and won’t reverse it, so they’re gonna hunt me until either I’m dead, or they’re destroyed.”

It didn't even sound like Naruto when he laughed that way. "Well, then why haven't you destroyed them? Is it a matter of power disparity or ethics?" He eyes the other man warily.

“Ethics. We want to be left alone, but we don’t wanna kill them to make that happen. I thought that they’d leave us alone if we went to the other side of the planet, but…” Clearly, it didn’t matter where they went, their coven would always be hunted. “…Sasuke…what do you know about…nature spirits and demons?”

"Nothing beyond pop culture." Sasuke really didn't like where this was going. "What exactly are we dealing with?"

Naruto huffs out a laugh. “Discrimination from people who can’t tell the difference. Or I guess that there isn’t one. A nature spirit is just that, a spirit out in nature that doesn’t hurt anybody. A demon is a spirit out there in nature, except that it has a lot of power and CAN hurt somebody. But just because it can do something doesn’t mean it will, but people are still scared of them and want to destroy them to make themselves feel safer, right?”

"Naruto, what did you do?" He was defending demons. "Are you alright?"

Sapphire eyes open to reveal scarlet irises, slit-pupiled and glowing faintly. Naruto smiles slightly, fangs protruding over his lips. “I summoned one years ago, he needed a host to sleep in, and I was lonely. So I let him stay. He’s a kitsune, a nature spirit. But he’s powerful and they called him a demon instead. And then they started calling me a demon-child. So I left. I was fifteen.”

Sasuke frowns at that. He wasn't sure if this nature spirit was really as benevolent as Naruto thought or if the blond was being played. "I'm sorry that your coven has suffered so, but one way or another, not everyone is getting out of this conflict alive." He never thought he'd have to say something like this and Sasuke couldn't even believe what he was about to advocate, but that wouldn't stop him. "So shove the ethical qualms to the side. It's self-defense."

For a moment, Naruto says nothing. Then he bursts out laughing. “Man, I really know how to pick ‘em.” He rubs the back of his head sheepishly, grinning abashedly. “So you’re…not too freaked out by the whole…I’ve got a demon in me thing? Cause if you are, I wouldn’t blame you for breaking up with me. Only the people in my coven know my furry secret, so…”

Laughter wasn't the response that Sasuke was expecting. "I won't lie and pretend that it doesn't scare the hell out of me." Sasuke sighs as he intertwines his fingers with Naruto's. "Well, more accurately, it scares the hell out of me because I worry for you now that I know that. If you wanted to do something crazy like sacrifice my family on some alter though, you would have done it by now. So I trust you." The 'nature spirit' was another matter. "For now though, I'm more worried about these hunters or whatever you call them."

“Bad guys pretending to be good guys?” Naruto wasn’t really sure what to call them. “They say that they stick strictly to the rules…but they bend them pretty good when they want something. We’re not the first group they’ve gone after. I know the name of their leader. Neji and Shikamaru managed to get it out of one of them before he killed himself.” Naruto hadn’t enjoyed the sorts of mind probes they’d had to employ, but it was necessary. “Danzo. Some old guy who knew my parents. He’s probably the one who had them killed, but they never told me, and the old perv only…hinted at it. They don’t want me involved with him. Never did.”

"Well, it sounds like your parents were right to try to shield you from that creep." Sasuke sighs as he kisses Naruto. "Just try to be safe and do this the smart way."

“Yeah…it’s not the first time…” Naruto could do that. He could also do this. He kisses back as a series of tiny pops fill the air, and nine fuzzy, fluffy tails grow from his tailbone and fluff up Sasuke’s arms and waist.

He blinks when one second he was kissing Naruto and the next, he was surrounded by a lot of fluff. "So what you got a Fluff Demon living inside you?" How many freaking tails was that? One, two...holy shit, nine.

“Kitsune, a Japanese fox demon.” Naruto grins cheekily and pushes Sasuke back and down onto the blue covers of the bed. “He’s super old and super kinky. He’s also laughing at me right now, but I don’t care.” He leans down and presses a fiery kiss to Sasuke’s lips. “And he says that one of us had better mount the other before Imbolc, or he’s going to do something drastic.”

"Well, I guess if you're going to have an animal demon, there are a lot worse options than a fox." He could have like a wasp demon inside him or something. "Wait. Why would he...care about that? How much does the kitsune see anyway?" He'd never been THAT bashful, but having a fox demon watch him with his lover was...outside his comfort zone.

“Uh…” Naruto chuckles nervously. “He can see through my eyes, so whatever I see, he can see, unless he decides he doesn’t want to look. If I tell him not to, he won’t.”

That was probably about the best he was going to get. "Good. He doesn't have a problem with you being with another male?" Sasuke would have guessed an animal demon would be more inclined towards preferring the opposite gender, but then again he had read that homosexuality had been observed in over a thousand species. So who knew and this wasn't just any fox. This was a demonic one.

Naruto shrugs. “When you live forever, it sounds like you stop caring. He hasn’t complained about my girlfriends or my boyfriends. And he seems to think you’re the sexiest of the bunch.” His eyes rake over Sasuke almost hungrily. “Can’t say he’s wrong.”

"I'm glad to hear it." Sasuke wraps his arms around Naruto's neck. "You might want to lose the tails though in case Itachi and Shisui decide we've been gone too long and want to see what's going on." It was also a relief to hear him say that. He was probably being a smidge ridiculous about Sakura, but he was an Uchiha. They were just fiery lovers. Fire was a very possessive element.

“I guess…” Though Naruto was disappointed, since the tails had impressive sensory input. They slowly disappear one by one, popping back out of existence as Naruto’s eyes fade back to blue. “Better?”

"If you don't want to do a hell of a lot of explaining to them, yeah." Sasuke senses the disappointment though. "The tails are a kink for you...aren't they?"

A wide, bright grin stretches across Naruto’s face. “Hell, yeah. Having them touched gets me all excited, and when they run across skin, it’s a great feeling. You’ll love it, I promise.”

He wasn't proud of it, but Sasuke feels his face burn in a heated blush all the same. "Maybe we can explore that after you're not in a life or death situation." Sasuke kisses his forehead.

“Aw…Sasuke…” Naruto pouts and lays down on Sasuke’s chest. “That’s EXACTLY when you should be having sex.”

"You can change moods faster than most people change socks." Sasuke holds him and shakes his head with a fond smile. "I'll think about it. It's like telling a puppy begging for a treat no."

“Yeah, I get called a puppy a lot. Though I’m actually a fox, so that makes me a kit. Or at least that’s what Kurama says. I’m his little kit.” It had been weird to be called that the first few times, but in the ten years since merging together, it had become easy, natural, instinctual.

"So...he think he's your demonic adoptive dad and told you to get laid and that your boyfriend is hot?" Sasuke didn't know how to process that.

“Basically, yeah.” Naruto was lucky. He could see his real dad on special occasions, and he had a demon dad who took care of him on every other day. “Cool, huh?”

"Going to take awhile to get used to, but the important thing is you're happy and safe." He kisses him again.

“Definitely happy about this.” Naruto rolls them across the bed, kissing Sasuke all the while. This, he could definitely get used to. “Happier than I’ve ever been.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> celestia193's Author's Note: So this chapter is...basically just crack and sex. Because why not? Fluff ahead, and by fluff, I mean furry fox tails.

A few days later, Sasuke watches as his students get a head start on some of their homework. He always gave them the last period to work on it. That way most of them would finish it before they went home. He hated giving homework. As a child, he'd despised it and as an adult, it was just as annoying for him as it was the kids.

So like any sensible teacher, he decides to get a head start on grading yesterday's exam. It was multiple choice. So he doubted this would take him more than ten or twenty minutes and this was a forty-five minute period. He was actually on his second to the last one, before his phone vibrated in his pocket.

"It had better be an emergency." He rolls his eyes at the thought. The last time that Itachi or Shisui had called, it had been to ask what he wanted for dinner. "Or else, I will fry them." He hated using his cell while at work unless it was an emergency. It struck Sasuke as unprofessional and yes, he knew that made him both a little bit of a control freak, but also a model employee.

Fortunately, his students were too busy doing their homework or trying to subtly talk with each other or pass notes to hear him muttering under his breath. The fact that they thought he didn't see them doing it was amusing enough that Sasuke doesn't bother to call them out on it. As long as they were relatively quiet and eventually did their work, whatever.

**Hey beautiful, did you miss me? I sure missed you. ;) - N**

**Idiot, I'm at work. I'll talk to you later. ~ S**

**Aw…but the wicked witch of the west finally let me out of her clutches. - N**

There’s a short pause before the next text comes in.

**Okay, totally not saying that out loud in front of Sakura again. Damn it, she still hits as hard as she did when we were kids. - N**

**Sakura HIT you? ~ S**

Sasuke wasn't sure whether to be shocked, amused, or angry. It all depended on whether or not Naruto was exaggerating. Though he was pretty sure that the pinkette hadn't actually seriously tried to hurt his boyfriend or they were going to talk and by talk Sasuke meant that he was going to hex her into next week.

**How hard and why? ~ S**

His students were still too busy. He could get away with texting. It didn't set a very good example, but Sasuke 'sneakily' keeps the phone under his desk so they couldn't see it.

**It was just a love tap, it didn’t really hurt. Surprised the fuck out of me, though. Don’t worry, she only does it if I put my life in danger, or do stupid stuff like calling her names to her face. So I totally brought it on myself, again. I won’t even bruise. - N**

**Well, I’m glad you aren't hurt. ~ S**

He still didn't like it. Sasuke knew he wouldn't have liked it even if she wasn't Naruto's ex, but it was especially annoying because of that.

He shakes his head trying to suppress the green eyed monster and irritation as he quickly finishes grading those last two papers. He double checks them though. Just to make sure he didn't screw some poor kid out of a letter grade on accident.

**So, I was thinking…you’re probably sitting at your desk in front of that class, acting all teacher-like, right? - N**

**I’m not acting all teacher-like, I AM actually a teacher. Though that's mostly accurate. ~ S.**

**Oh, good. Then sit back and relax. You’ll enjoy this, I promise. - N**

**...You had better not send me sexy pictures at work. I swear if one of my eleven year old students walks over here and sees a picture of your wand, it won't end well for you. ~ S**

**Nah, I wasn’t gonna send you pictures of my wand. I’d much rather introduce you to that in person. Though it’s more of a staff than a wand. - N**

**I was just thinking about how I’d love to take you out on another date, maybe to a park, somewhere secluded, somewhere where no one would walk in on us. I could show you my tails again and wrap you all all nice and tight in them. - N**

**A staff huh? Sounds like someone's overcompensating a bit. I should have figured you'd be into the whole woods thing...probably prefer doing it canine style too. ~ S**

**I could definitely go for that, but as long as you’re all wrapped up in tails, I don’t care which way is up. Do you mind ears? Cause mine get furry and really sensitive if you nibble on them just right. - N**

Sasuke blinks at that. His life had gotten so weird. He didn't even know how to respond to the idea his boyfriend could actually change parts of his body at will.

**I'm still getting used to everything, but the ears aren't an issue. ~ S**

**Good. Would you like that, though? Would you like it if I nibbled on your ears and wrapped you all up in nothing but my tails? Your neck seems to be your spot, so I’d be sure not to neglect it. I could run my fingers all over your skin while I kissed you. I bet you would look beautiful with just the moon and stars watching us. - N**

He decides it was in his best interest not to confirm the spot thing. Sasuke knew though that wasn’t the main point. His boyfriend was feeling very frisky and apparently adventurous.

**When you put it that way, it sounds very romantic. ~ S**

**Mhm. And just imagine how you would feel while I touched you. I’d kiss you until you went crazy, then leave love bites all over your skin. It’s like moonlight, ya know? I bet your skin would show every kiss I gave you for weeks. I’d kiss your neck, your chest. I bet you’d love having those hard little nipples sucked. And I could suck other things, if you like. Suck you until you came…and only the forest would get to hear you scream my name. - N**

**You're evil. You know that, right? Getting me wound up at work. ~ S**

Really, really wound up. He was going to need an ice cold shower at this rate. Thank the God and Goddess it was almost time to go home.

**If you really think I’m that evil, you could always come over, and we could find a way to sneak out and head for the forest so you could press my face into the grass and punish me, Teach. I know you want to. Or would you rather wait until you can bend me over your desk? - N**

Did 'nature spirits' go into heat, Sasuke wonders. It sounded like Naruto was in heat and while he would have normally been all too happy to indulge him, he was still in class.

**I'm having a HARD time choosing between both those options. ~ S**

**Who says that you gotta choose? I think we could manage both. - N**

The phone pings with a second text from Naruto.

**And I bet you’d love to have me under your desk right now, my face in your lap. - N**

**Well, when the classroom is empty, yeah. Who wouldn't? ~ S**

**Wanna come over when the bell rings? I bet I could fix your little problem. - N**

**It's definitely NOT a 'little' problem. I really want to, but I'm not sure it's safe with that fishnet lady stalking you. ~ S**

**Would you rather me teleport into your bedroom so you can have me waiting there for you in nothing but my tails? - N**

**You can teleport and get past all those protection spells?~ S**

**Of course I can, they’re meant to keep the bad guys out, not me. One of the ingredients we used was my blood, just so I could get in and grab you guys if anything DID happen. - N**

Then a second text hits the screen.

**So is that a yes? Cause if I start now, I could totally beat you home. - N**

**Well yeah because you're using your magic to cheat and win the race. Though yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can. Tease. ~ S**

**Is it a tease if I’m naked in your bed by the time you get home? ;) - N**

Naruto had better not be joking. If he was, Sasuke wasn't sure there was enough cold water on the planet to deal with his frustration.

**No, but you had better be there. I'll be home in about twenty minutes. ~ S**

**Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be ready when you get here. - N**

“Mr. Uchiha?” One of the little fifth graders with tall, spiky brown hair pops up in front of his teacher’s desk. “The bell’s gonna ring in five minutes, so can we get our stuff ready to go now?”

Sasuke almost jumps, but manages not to. "Yes, you can get your stuff." He loved teaching, but kids were worse than ninjas sometimes. They could appear out of nowhere.

“Okay!” Then, Konohamaru shoots him a sly grin. “Say hi to your girlfriend for me. She must be pretty hot if you’ve been texting her under your desk for half the class.”

"Would you like to say hi to detention?" Sasuke glowers at him. Kids these days.

Konohamaru flees the front of the room, snickering as he races back to his desk. It wasn’t often that he got to tease his teacher, but when he did, it was always hilarious.

Sasuke smacks his forehead. Honestly, there was one in every class. There always had to be one lovable idiot who was begging for a detention. "I hope your survival instincts improve by the time you get to middle school or else you'll spend more time in detention than at home." Was it his imagination or were kids getting more cheeky by the year?

* * *

 

The car ride home had never seemed so long before. By the time an extremely frustrated Sasuke Uchiha gets home, he darts inside his house and was preparing to head towards his room when he sees a smug looking Itachi.

"Itachi, what the hell are you still doing here?" Well, maybe he could just soundproof his room with a nifty spell. Wait...hadn't Naruto's coven Mates done that already?

“Waiting for you.” Itachi’s lips turn up in a smirk and he rises to his feet, crossing the room to pat Sasuke on the shoulder. “It would seem that your puppy was rummaging about in the fridge while I was getting ready for my date with Shisui. Curiously, the whipped cream is missing. I wonder what he could possibly want with that.”

The elder brother chuckles at the shock present on his foolish little brother’s face. Then he releases his hold on Sasuke’s shoulder and strides down the hall and out the door, locking it securely behind him.

Great. Now, Itachi knew that he and Naruto were probably going to use that whip cream for some very creative purposes. "Whatever." He'd deal with that later though. Right now, he had a frisky Naruto to find, which is what had Sasuke dashing to his room to find his kitsune.

The door flings open to the sight of Naruto laying there on his bed, the sheets a haphazard mess, and his prominent arousal both obvious to the eye, and to the nose. The air hangs with a thick, heady scent, coupled with the slightly sweet scent of the vibrant purple lubricant dripping from Naruto’s fingers as he pumps two fingers inside himself. And next to him on the bedside table sits the can of whipped cream, freshly shaken.

Heavy-lidded sapphire eyes gleam the moment Sasuke walks into the room and a smirk graces his flushed face. “Hey there. Glad to see that you made it. Here I thought I might have to start the party without ya.”

"You texted me while I was still teaching a class and then I had to drive back here." Sasuke stalks towards Naruto and grabs whip cream. "You could have waited until I got here. Are you really that impatient?" He shakes his head. "Never mind. I already know the answer to that." Sasuke reaches into a nearby drawer and pulls out a pair of fuzzy handcuffs. "Since you were such a poorly behaved fox though, I guess I'll just have to punish you."

“Punish me…how?” Naruto grins widely and rolls over onto his knees, staring at Sasuke and licking his lips. “Are you gonna give me that detention you promise, Teach?”

"First of all, you're wearing the cuffs until you can conduct yourself properly." Sasuke slaps them on Naruto before he could blink. For once, he was grateful Shisui and Itachi were such deviants. It meant finding an extra pair of fuzzy handcuffs was easy. "Secondly, don't call me Teach. Just call me Sasuke or if you're into that sort of thing, Mr. Uchiha." It sounded more dignified than Teach to him.

Naruto laughs and tugs on the cuffs, finding them…well, cute, but they wouldn’t actually hold him if he didn’t want them there. “Alright Sasuke…I see you’d into tying people up. Good to know. I like bondage too. I guess we’re gonna be doing a lot of this since, according to very reliable sources, I never behave myself.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

"Your sources can go fuck themselves." He kisses Naruto heatedly almost as though to brand a claim of some sort through the sheer intensity of his kiss alone. "You're mine now, even if you make absolutely no sense sometimes." Sasuke was not happy to hear about 'other sources, who he could only assume were Naruto's former lovers. So he shakes the whip cream again before spraying a ridiculously perfect straight and vertical line down Naruto's chest.

“Yep, all yours now.” Naruto didn’t expect Sasuke to be so possessive, but he couldn’t say that he didn’t like it. He laughs and squirms away from the still cold whipped cream trailing across his chest. “That tickles, ya know.”

"Good and well, this was your idea." Sasuke looks up at him through now ruby red eyes as he languidly licks the creamy treat off of his soon to be lover's muscular chest.

Naruto groans at the feeling of his boyfriend’s tongue licking its way up his chest. “Yeah, but that was meant for you.” He’d been planning to cover Sasuke in swirls and dots, then licks them all off one by one. Sasuke was supposed to be a work of art! “I was gonna lick it off your cock and stuff.”

Sasuke captures a nipple in his mouth and tugs on it with his teeth. "Well, that does sound rather intriguing." It was enough to make him shiver with anticipation actually.

“It’s AWESOME.” Naruto tries hard not to moan as Sasuke’s tongue passes over the sensitized bud. “What’s even better is if ya do it with a mint in your mouth.” His chest heaves slightly and his hands struggle against the cuffs, wanting to grab onto Sasuke.

Sasuke smirks as he glides his tongue along the sensitive spot teasingly and takes Naruto's cock into his hand, stroking it. It was nice to see how sensitive the other man was.

This groan was the loudest by far as Naruto thrust into Sasuke’s hand. This man was even better at playing with his cock than he was, and he had the magic lube! “Get up here and kiss me you asshole.” He reaches down, maneuvering his hands carefully through the cuffs as he tries to tug on Sasuke’s spiky hair.

"You're such a romantic." Sasuke snorts as he moves up and kisses Naruto while continuing to stroke him.

Naruto smirks into the kiss as his blood starts to boil. This is why he never got too close to anyone outside of his coven. Because when he did, things got furry. His nine tails unfurl from his back, propping him up briefly, before flopping out all across the large bed. Four of them reach up, two of them grabbing at Sasuke’s ankles, one of them at the hand pressed into the bed and holding him up, the last one curling around Sasuke’s waist and down towards the waistband of his jeans. “Lose the clothes. I wanna see just how gorgeous you are without them.”

If Sasuke hadn't know about the tails in advance, he probably would have panicked. "I'm going to need a lot of handcuffs to deal with you, it seems." Sasuke snorts, but he slowly slides his shirt over his head in a teasingly slow fashion, displaying his moonlight pale skin inch by inch.

Sapphire eyes darken as Naruto’s pupils dilate. Sasuke was beautiful. And none of the teasing glances he’d seen at Samhain could compare to the sight of Sasuke kneeling over him, stripping off his clothes. And of course, his tails were all too eager to help toss aside the jacket, shirt, then his belt. Every inch of skin exposed was another inch for those tails to lavish with sensual caresses.

Sasuke despite being the only one not cuffed, feels himself blush. There was something incredibly intimate about the way the tails were touching him, even if thus far none of them had strayed below the belt.

“Pants.” As dexterous as Naruto’s tails were, buttons and zippers were beyond the abilities of the fluffy appendages. “I wanna see if you’re packing the goods to back up that ego of yours.”

"You're a pervert." Sasuke snorts as he slides out of his pants and his crimson red boxers. "Though I'm pretty sure you'll find that even though I don't have as many tails as you, mine works just fine." It was also a large one. Thank you very much!

Naruto’s eyes widen, and suddenly, he was rather glad that he’d started doing his own prep earlier. He was definitely going to need it. “Nice…wand.” He smirks, knowing Sasuke would take the bait. How could he not? It was just too much to resist.

"Smart ass!" Sasuke sprays some whip cream on Naruto's own 'wand' and takes one hard suck before releasing him with a loud pop from his mouth.

“Gods, Sasuke!” Was it wrong that Naruto wanted to flip Sasuke over and take him like an animal just to prove a point? You did NOT just start sucking a guy off, only to stop after a second and a half! “You are SO lucky Kurama’s in heat right now, otherwise I’d-” He couldn’t really think of a great threat right now, teased half out of his mind. Just half, but half was enough to stop his brain in its tracks. “Damn it, Sasuke! Put your mouth back or your fingers in, or I swear that when it’s MY turn, you won’t be able to walk for a month!”

"Well, I am kinda tempted to see if you could back that threat up." Sasuke laughs as he coats his fingers in lubrication before sliding two in Naruto. "Though I guess I shouldn't be cruel to a cute, cuddly animal like a fox." That and he takes Naruto back in his mouth.

Naruto groans and lets his head fall back, awkwardly working his fingers through Sasuke’s hair. The chain strains under the pressure, but he doesn’t break it, not just yet. After all, that would be mean to the poor defenseless handcuffs. Though unlike the urge to break metal, Naruto couldn’t completely suppress the urge to thrust up into Sasuke’s warm, wet, wicked mouth. “Yes…” He hisses softly, enjoying the attention lavished on the extremely sensitive organ.

He bobs his head up and down and makes sure to keep eye contact. That was usually a turn on for him. So it probably would be for his gorgeous fox. Speaking of Naruto's foxiness, Sasuke uses his other hand to stroke Naruto's tails while his fingers pump in and out of Naruto.

The tails all shiver at once and eight of them fall flat on the bed, while the one being attended curls around Sasuke’s wrist possessively. Naruto’s eyes flick from Sasuke’s eyes to his mouth to his hand, then to his tail. His muscles clench and tighten, preluding the release that came with desperate panting and breathless moans.

“AH!” The blond fox shudders as his balls tighten and a rush of heat floods his veins, then his cock. And as he arches his back in orgasm, he drives Sasuke’s fingers into the spot that made stars pop in all corners of his vision. “Sasuke!”

Sasuke smiles smugly as he uncuffs Naruto. "Better get on your hands and knees. Still think I can't back up my talk?" He was probably a pile of goo now. So he didn't see a reason not to uncuffs him.

But even as a pile of goo, Naruto’s quivering tails shoot out towards Sasuke, grabbing at his limbs and flipping the both of them over so that he could straddle Sasuke’s hips and lean down to kiss his captive boyfriend. “Never underestimate a kitsune, Sasuke…” He growls softly in Sasuke’s ear, making sure to nibble it with a sharp canine before trailing back to his lips and pressing their together in a passionate kiss.

"Fuck." Sasuke hadn't seen that coming, but he wasn't about to protest the sexy kiss.

Naruto slides his tongue into Sasuke’s mouth, memorizing his boyfriend from the inside out. “Mm…” He slowly pulls back, licking first Sasuke’s lips, then his own, the smirk on his face only growing. “Okay.” He slowly wiggles his way off of Sasuke, his tails keeping them connected by wrapping tightly around Sasuke’s arms and legs as Naruto slips through them and turns over onto his hands and knees. He wiggles his ass in the air and the whole crowd of tails shakes with it. “Think you can handle this ass, Sasuke?”

"Well, it is a nice ass." Sasuke tilts his head and looks at him in almost a daze. "Though it's going to be hard to reach with all that fluff blocking it."

A soft, panting laugh escapes Naruto and he bends down a little further, letting his tails fall to either side of him and over his back, clearing a path for his rather bewildered boyfriend. “Better?”

"Mhm." Sasuke nods as he brushes his arousal against Naruto's opening. "Guess it's only fair to ask, do you think you can handle this?"

“Definitely.” The lubricant inside of him still tingled, just waiting for the magical connection that Sasuke would bring. “Try not to pass out on me, Sasuke.” Because the man was in for quite a shock. Literally.

He shakes his head at the blond as he buries himself inside his lover. "God and Goddess." He'd never met someone this tight before.

Naruto curses under his breath as the magical lubricant begins to snap and tingle, conducting Sasuke’s magic through to his own, and his own to Sasuke. And fuck, this is why he loved this stuff! “Yes!” He presses back against Sasuke and lets his tails go to work, winding around Sasuke’s waist and pulling his lover in, almost fusing them together at the hips.

"What the hell?" Sasuke groans. "This can't be normal." It had to be some sort of magic rushing through his veins as he slams into the gorgeous fox underneath him.

Barely managing to speak through the groan, Naruto rolls his hips into every thrust. “Magic lube! Just go with it!”

"You've got a lot of explaining to do later." Sasuke continues rocking with his lover against the bed. the poor piece of furniture was likely about to become a casualty of their passion.

As their magic twists and turns together, ethereal flames begin dancing along the fluffy tails, casting the room in a soft blue glow. Naruto’s inside knot together, twisting and turning with pleasure as Sasuke slams into every place inside of him that begged to be touched. “Sasuke! Harder!” He was so close…so close…

Sasuke didn't have any problem doing exactly that. In fact, it was all it took to make him find something he could only describe as euphoria as lust and magic intertwine into something intoxicating.

Naruto shivers and shudders with pleasure, Sasuke’s name falling from his lips in an echoing cry that bounces around the mercifully soundproofed bedroom. He’d made sure to add an extra layer when he arrived, just in case. And a good thing too, because as he found the peak of pleasure once more, it was obvious that they were going to need it.

"Fuck. You've really gotta explain what that stuff does." Sasuke pants as he pulls out of Naruto and holds his lover close.

“Magic-conducting lubricant.” Naruto smiles as he snuggles into Sasuke’s arms. “Don’t worry, it’s safe. We’ve tested it thoroughly and nothing ever bad happens. It’s just really good at improving the natural flow of magic between two people and draws it out of the skin to mix it all together. I thought, since you’ve got magic too, it would be good to use it. You get a bigger high out of it.”

Sasuke was still enjoying the glow of his orgasm too much to really protest that. "Next time, you want to add magic to our lovemaking, ask first." He kisses Naruto. "Alright? But I can't really argue with the results." They were fucking fantastic.

“Alright…” Naruto’s furry ears perk up as he grins into Sasuke’s shoulder. “So does that mean we can use it next time, too? Because it lasts even longer when it’s inside you. I think you’d really like it.”

"That your sneaky way of saying you want to top?" He quirks an eyebrow.

“Oh, it’ll happen.” Naruto leans up to kiss Sasuke on the nose. “I promise.”

"You can be a cocky bastard sometimes." Sasuke returns the kiss.

“And that’s the pot calling the kettle black.” But Naruto didn’t mind, not when he was still half blissed out by the afterglow. “And next time we use whipped cream, I wanna turn you into a work of art…” He yawns and closes his eyes, his tails wrapping around them both and providing a wonderful layer of warmth.

"Mmm you're lucky that you're cute and tight as hell." Sasuke yawns as he curls up against Naruto.

Naruto laughs and pulls the blankets over them. “Yeah, I know.” And Sasuke was gorgeous and sexy, and hot as fuck. And Naruto was so glad that he’d accepted having a boyfriend who played host to a thousand year old kitsune. He’d really hit the jackpot with Sasuke.

It felt like nothing could go wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> celestia193's Author's Note: ... ;)

A couple days later, Sasuke foolish let his guard down as he went to grab something for breakfast before work. Itachi had seen him going to Naruto and been ridiculously smug, but he hadn't said anything about it since. That must mean he was in the clear and thus he could enjoy his omelet in peace.

Oh how wrong he was. “So, foolish little brother, did you have fun with your puppy?” Itachi smirks as he strides into the kitchen and seats himself at the counter. He reaches for an apple, bringing it to his face to mockingly conceal the smirk there. “I haven’t seen you up and about since he arrived.”

"I don't have a puppy." Sasuke rolls his eyes. Great. He was screwed. "Oh and I should probably be going. You know class and all. I'm responsible for our nation's future or whatever. It's very important work." He tries to dart off.

“I happen to know that your class is going on a school field trip today, and that you specifically took the day off because there were more than enough parent volunteer chaperones.” Itachi always made sure to keep up with what was going on in his little brother’s life.

"Itachi, that's creepy." He blinks. "You're like a stalker or something." Sheesh did Itachi notice what flavor toothpaste he used too. What the hell?

“No, I am your brother.” Which meant that it was Itachi’s job to keep track of his little brother. Especially now that there was a threat looming on the horizon. “So, tell me. Did you enjoy yourself with your puppy?”

"Stop calling him that and stop being a voyeur." Sasuke rolls his eyes. Honestly, Itachi could gossip like a high school student sometimes.

Itachi raises one elegant eyebrow. “If I were a voyeur, there would be no need for me to ask how your very long date went.”

"SHISUI, SAVE ME FROM ITACHI!" Maybe, if Sasuke could get Shisui here...that would distract him and he could make a mad dash for it.

Itachi smirks as his beloved appears twenty seconds later, completely relaxed and in no hurry to save his little cousin. Shisui ambles in and smiles amiably. “What’s the problem, Sasuke? Aren’t you two done talking about your date yet?”

"You, you damn traitor." Sasuke scoffs. Shisui was supposed to be on his side!

“Sasuke…” Shisui shakes his head. “You can’t honestly expect the two of us not to be interested when the youngest member of our coven finally gets a serious boyfriend. Admit it, the only reason you don’t tease us about being together is that we’ve been together so long that the novelty has worn off.” And they might have traumatized Sasuke a little over the years.

"When was there any novelty?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow at them like they had lost their minds. "You two were always together." Sometimes so much so much so that they really should have invested in a DO NOT DISTURB sign. "Since I'm not getting out of this interrogation, I'll just say that it's a good thing we had the walls soundproofed by magic." He smiles smugly and tries to get out of there.

Itachi chuckles and reaches over to poke Sasuke’s forehead. “I see. Good, you should take time for yourself to relax sometimes, Sasuke. I know that you are worried about your puppy, but if he has shown us anything, it’s that he is unpredictable and resourceful.”

"Will you stop calling him that?" Sasuke scoffs as he rubs his forehead. "I'm the only one allowed to make the dog jokes."

“Am I not allowed to acknowledge just how adorably sweet he is with you?” So sweet that Itachi should probably see a dentist soon about all those cavities.

Sasuke feels his face burning. "You would choose another adjective, if you knew what he was like when no one else was around." Damn it. He was blushing. This was so not good. Itachi was never going to let Sasuke live this down.

Oh ho, so the blond had some tricks for turning the tables on Sasuke, then? That was good to know, especially if Itachi was going to be conspiring about the two of them. “I see. And…what is he like when no one else is around?”

Shisui chuckles and places a hand on Itachi’s shoulder. “Alright, Itachi…I think you’ve embarrassed Sasuke enough for one day. He’s as red as a tomato now.”

If that was Shisui's version of helping, Sasuke didn't want to know what Shisui would do, if he wasn't. "You couldn't handle him." He crosses his arms, trying to regain his dignity.

Itachi’s eyes light up with amusement, even as he leans back into Shisui’s touch. “I see, that’s very interesting.”

Yeah, Itachi was a bit too interested for Shisui to leave alone. “‘Tachi…” Shisui circles around Itachi and sits across his lover’s lap, motioning covertly for Sasuke to run. “Are you trying to make me jealous?”

"Of course, not." He smiles and kisses Shisui. "You know that I only have eyes for you. It's just it's not every day that my baby brother finds such a feisty puppy to play with."

“I think you know that I can be just as feisty.” Shisui smirks against Itachi’s lips. “Or do I need to remind you of a few things?”

"Well, I suppose that a reminder never hurts." Itachi smirks right back at him.

Shisui glances over his shoulder to see no sign of Sasuke. Of course, his little cousin always was quick to disappear once he and Itachi got their hands all over each other. Oh, the sacrifices he made for Sasuke’s mental well-being. “And…just how would you like to be reminded.” Shisui’s fingers dance a delicate path down Itachi’s shoulder to his hip.

Itachi smiles at his future fiance slyly. "Oh I'm sure you'll come up with something." He leans into his touch as his smile only grows. It was so much fun to imagine all the things his brilliant lover might come up with.

Well, as it so happened, Shisui had been working on some rather interesting little inventions. He brushes his lips against Itachi’s and slides his tongue slowly into his lover’s mouth, before pulling away again. “Come to bed with me, and I’ll show you just what I’ve been working on.”

Shisui laughs and swats Itachi’s ass. “Oh I won’t, I promise.”

* * *

 

It had been a long and difficult road, and the criminals were elusive, to say the least. But he would not be known as the one whose hunters could not control a demon and bring it to heel. He would not allow that abomination to continue roving the world, just waiting to be unleashed from within the vessel it had possessed. No demon was kind. No demon was safe. It was merely a matter of time before it would destroy everything it saw.

“I see…” He taps the armrest of his chair, considering this new information. “And you’ve been unsuccessful in finding any other trace of the demon’s power, save for your encounter with the one with the dark hair?”

"I'm afraid so." Anko nods at the screen, praying that her failure wouldn't result in her demise. "He's hidden his tracks well and so has the dark haired one. I doubt that he actually knows about the monster that Naruto contains within himself, but he's a clever one. I wasn't even able to track Naruto after following him."

“So the demon has escaped again.” It was a frustrating hunt that had led them all across the world. But Danzo would not give up the trail this soon. “It may still be using the name Naruto Uzumaki. Search for that name wherever you can.”

"I'll be sure to do so." She mentally lets out a sigh of relief. "If he is, he's definitely foolish. Who wouldn't use a fake name at this point? Never mind, he's blond."

The elderly man glare disapprovingly. “Do not fail me again, Anko, or I will send someone in your place who can track the beast down for me. You know how dangerous it is. And you know that it cannot be allowed to live.”

She nods at him, deciding it was best to show contrition. "I know and I promise you that he won't escape again." They simply couldn't allow for such a beast to roam the earth.

“Now go. Track him down and capture him. When you have, we will come to destroy the beast once and for all.” And whatever remained of the foolish, dangerous boy who believed that dabbling in forbidden magics would not result in severe consequences.

"Of course." She turn off the connection and heads off to do exactly that. One did not keep a man like Danzo waiting for anything, if they wanted to live long enough to see their next birthday.

The door to the conference room opens and a figure leans against the door frame, mismatched eyes staring at Anko from behind a wolf’s mask. “It sounds like he took it well.”

"Better than expected." Anko sighs in relief. "If we don't find the beast soon though, we're done for." It was a good thing she had a lot of life insurance, but still Anko didn't actually want to die in her thirties.

The man with the wolf mask shrugs, his spiky silver hair catching the dim light. “Then we find him.”

"Yes, we will." She nods at him. "Do you have any leads?"

“One.” The Uchiha boy. It had been a long time since he had last seen an Uchiha. And it would seem that there was more than one black sheep in the family. “Are you going to track him down using his name? From what you said, it seemed like the other one recognized it.” The boy had changed his outward identity several times. Magic made it rather easy to forge documents, after all. But he knew that Naruto would not be easy to track, even if he was using his birth name.

"I suppose that's what I"ll try first since Danzo suggested it and other than the dark haired boy, I haven't any other leads." She sighs.

“I’ll work on this Sasuke kid.” He removes the mask from his face and smiles, wrinkling the scar around his left eye. “I have something that might just get me into his good graces.”

Anko was tempted to hug the other magic user, but she just nods at him. "Thank you. I appreciate it." If he could find Naruto somehow, it might just end up saving both of their lives.

* * *

 

Gaara raises an eyebrow as another of his attacks lands that shouldn't have. "Naruto, get your head out of the clouds." He was pretty sure he knew why. "Sasuke isn't even here. You'd think you'd pay a little attention to our fight."

“Sorry!” Naruto blocks the next one and counters it with a kick of his own. “And who says that I’m thinking about Sasuke?”

"Naruto, I'm not a complete idiot." He rolls his eyes. "I know that glazed expression. You only get it when you're thinking about him. You've had that lovesick puppy look ever since you first laid eyes on him. So I know you're thinking about Sasuke."

Said eyes roll dramatically as Naruto dodges another punch. “I’ll have you know that I don’t look like this when I actually lay eyes on him.” He took on a different expression entirely. “Besides, you’ve gotta admit that he’s pretty fucking hot.”

"Sure, you don't." Gaara scoffs. Though in all honesty, he was happy for his friend. "I'll admit that he does appear to come from one exceptionally attractive family." Husually leaned slightly towards women, but there was no denying that Naruto had good taste. "Hard to get a good look at him though when you're always all over him." He smirks. "It's just as well though. You've been chasing after him like such a lovesick puppy that I wouldn't have the heart to come between the two of you anyway."

“You have a heart?” Naruto tilts his head, a smile growing on his face. “Can I listen to it?”

"Sasuke must have screwed your brains out. That's the only logical conclusion." Gaara sighs.

“Yeah, he’s good at screwing my brains out.” Naruto smiles with satisfaction. “But I think I’m pretty good at screwing his out too. We had a lot of fun when I camped out in his room.”

Gaara blinks. Hmm that was unexpected. That was a rather egalitarian approach to things considering Naruto had a fox demon inside him. "Good to know and I'm happy for you, but try not to get yourself killed." He smiles.

“I’m not going to get myself killed by sleeping with a hottie like Sasuke. He…gets how important it is to be careful about all of this.” Naruto licks his lips, and if they’d popped out, his ears would be twitching about. “And…he knows why.”

"I like him, but be careful." Gaara smiles at Naruto and shakes his head. "I think he's trustworthy even if that goes against common sense to tell someone you just met not that long ago about your nature spirit, but being distracted can be dangerous."

“I know.” Naruto had learned the hard way that not paying attention would get him into more than a little trouble. More than once, it had almost been fatal. “But he’s…I think he might be the one, Gaara.” Naruto had been through more than a few significant others, but Sasuke was special. And he couldn’t figure out exactly why.

The red head smiles at his friend. "I'm happy for you. It's so rare to find the one." He wouldn't press the matter further. Naruto might be impulsive, but Gaara knew he wouldn't make a declaration like that lightly.

“Yeah, I thought that it might never happen.” After all, Naruto’s options were pretty limited. The wiccan population was quite small. The number of people that he could trust was similarly reduced. Naruto’s gaze flicks to Gaara. “…We both hoped that it would work out but…”

"Naruto, it’s alright." Gaara shakes his head at him. "We were just always better off as friends than lovers. You don't need to feel guilty."

“Yeah, I know.” Naruto kicks at the ground, still feeling a little bad over everything that happened back then. “You’re my best friend, though. You know that, right?”

"Of course, I know that." Gaara swats him with his sand, figuring that was the best way to snap Naruto out of his melancholy. "Don't beat yourself up over it. I’m happy for you and God and Goddess knows you need someone to deal with that excessive amount of energy you have. It might as well be Sasuke."

Naruto laughs softly and bats the persistent sand away from his head. “Yeah, yeah, I get it.” And he loved Sasuke for the way that the man accepted him, all of him. It would be too much to ask of any lover, and Naruto knew that. But not of Sasuke. Sasuke was so very special. “I just wish that being with me didn’t put him in danger.”

"So do I but, then again I wish you being you didn't put you in danger." Gaara shrugs as he tries his best to reassure his friend. "Life is full of risks and Sasuke has decided he doesn't mind taking this one."

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” But if they had to pick up and leave again…Naruto would have to leave Sasuke behind for his own safety. “How long do you think we’ll have to keep running?”

"Until Danzo is dead." There was just no other way around it. "Maybe even after that. He's likely got a replacement ready."

“So…what, we kill them all?” Naruto hated the thought of killing people, but it’s not like it would be the first time. He steps back and sinks to the floor, leaning back against the wall. “Will they finally give us peace, then? It’s not like we’re hurting anybody or anything.”

"Naruto, I love the imaginary world that you inhabit and I wish more people would join you on Planet La La, but we both know that doesn't matter." Gaara sighs as he embraces his friend. "They fear what they don't understand and while they're terrified, there is no reasoning with them. We will do what we need to survive, but if you try to make peace with these bastards, they'll cut you down faster than you can blink."

Naruto snorts softly. “You really think He would let them?” A symbiotic relationship it might be, but if Naruto was in danger and couldn’t or wouldn’t defend himself, he wouldn’t retain control of his body for very long.

"You know what I meant. Stop being purposely obtuse." Gaara gives him a dark look. "It only takes one second, Naruto. I don't want you to get killed because you think that he makes you invincible. I know that Kyuubi will protect you as best he can, but still."

“Kurama.” Naruto corrects him automatically. “And…I know. I’m not stupid, I know that I have to be careful.” He’d been careful for years, running and hiding. “I’m just sick and tired of being careful. I hate running and I hate not being able to make a life anywhere.”

Gaara nods sympathetically. "We all do." He just didn't now how to make things better for his friend.

“Yeah.” Naruto breathes deeply, then looks up with a smile. “Sorry that you got dragged into all of this. I bet this isn’t what you signed up for when you three stumbled into our little family.”

"It wasn't what I was signed up for, but the rewards are greater than the price." He smiles at him.

“Right, thanks.” Naruto closes his eyes and sighs. “I guess that as long as we all stay alive, what we get will always be worth more than the price we gotta pay for it.”

"It's not like you to be so despondent." Gaara shakes his head. "I suppose Sasuke will just have to screw your brains out again at the newest opportunity." There. That should distract Naruto from his darkening mood quite nicely.

Naruto’s cheeks fill with color, heating all the way to the tips of his ears as he glares at Gaara. Or tries to, in any case. “Hey, he’s not the only one doing the screwing!” Had Gaara forgotten that he’d said that!?

"That's very egalitarian of the two of you." Gaara's lips twitch upwards in amusement.

“Of course it is. Sasuke’s awesome like that.” Naruto folds his arms across his chest in a semblance of a pout. “Mom and Dad and the Old Perv already harassed him about it, so don’t you go giving him a hard time.”

"Oh I wouldn't tease him about it." Gaaras smirks at Naruto. "Teasing you is much more fun."

“Asshole!” Naruto lunges for Gaara and knocks him to the floor, a few of his tails already popping out of his back as his blood heats with excitement. Gaara had always been able to get a rise out of him, no matter how down in the dumps he felt.

"Perhaps, but I'm merely stating the truth." He smiles as he tries to free himself from Naruto's ‘attack.'

Naruto’s face flames an even brighter red, before cooling a little and being replaced by a smirk. “You know, I haven’t heard about your love life lately. Have you found yourself a prince who wants into your sandcastle yet?”

Gaara looks at Naruto as if he was on crack. "Into my sandcastle?" Had he really just said that? "Naruto, how old are you again? That was the lamest innuendo in the history of innuendos."

“Older than you!” Naruto smirks widely as his fingers twitch forward, surging under Gaara’s shirt to tickle him senseless. Sure, it was just by a few months, but it still counted. “And it’s a great innuendo! Don’t lie! You love playing in your sandcastles.”

"You don't act it." Gaara pushes on Naruto’s shoulder and flips them over. He was ticklish and that was a fact that the blond was all too happy to take advantage of. "Besides, it's still a lame innuendo, whether or not I like building them." It was one of the first things that he had learned how to do with his magic. Building sandcastles. Of course, as a child he liked showing them off and even today, well people couldn't help but admire them.

Naruto chuckles as he lands on his back, his tails cushioning the fall. “I just want ya to be happy, Gaara. You know that.” Gaara always worked to balance him out and try to keep him happy, but Naruto wanted the rest of his coven to be as happy as they could be. And that included Gaara.

"You could start by not tickling me." The red head nods at him somberly. "Yes, that would be a damn good start."

“Alright, alright.” Naruto laughs and moves his hands away. “So, no new sweetheart on the horizon, huh?”

Gaara sighs in relief momentarily as he gets up. At least the 'Tickle Assault' was over for the time being, but the rest of his friend's words cause him to frown. "No and I doubt that there will be anytime soon." He shakes his head, not wanting to make his friend feel guilty, but it was somewhat necessary to remind him of everything. "I'd either have to find someone in the coven or someone outside of it. If I did the latter, I'd risk endangering an innocent person who has nothing to do with all this."

“Yeah…” It’s why Naruto wasn’t just going for Sasuke full tilt. It was fun, sure, but if things got any more intense, he could always pull back and disappear if he had to, and Sasuke could go back to living a normal life. “Well, you seemed to like me well enough, so you could always try taming Lee’s energy. Or Shino, he’s as quiet as you are.”

"Naruto, please don't." Gaara could see where this was going and it wasn't anywhere good. "If I wanted to date someone in this coven, I would have said so by now. You don't need to play matchmaker."

“Okay, okay.” Naruto throws his hands up, sort of, then wriggles out from underneath Gaara. “It was just a stupid thought, that’s all.” He sighs and shakes his head. “It’d be a lot easier than dating someone outside the coven…” Someone that he might have to leave behind if things got bad.

"I know you mean well, but come on." He looks at his friend. "Dinner should be ready soon and I'm not in the mood for cold ramen." That should distract Naruto away from his latest, well Gaara didn't really know what to call it. He decides just to label it as a matchmaking attempt for now for the sake of simplicity, but he knew the truth.

Naruto felt guilty about everything from Danzo to their relationship not panning out. Not that any of it was the blond's fault, but Gaara knew guilt when he saw it. His desire for Gaara's happiness was sincere, but he didn't want Naruto to turn his lovelife into some sort of crusade.

Naruto’s eyes light up, masking the peal of sadness in them. “Nothing’s better than ramen when it’s hot!” Except maybe Sasuke. If ever there came a day when Naruto would have to choose between ramen and Sasuke, he was pretty sure that he would die.


	9. Chapter 9

Mismatched eyes follow the progress of the young schoolteacher down the street. He’d been watching this young man for several days now, and he appeared for all the world to be a normal young man.

But Kakashi was not all the world. And he knew better than to trust the eyes of others. Not when his own showed him the wisps and curls of magic wafting almost imperceptibly from this Uchiha.

Uchiha…now that was a name he hadn’t heard in a very long time…

Sasuke continues walking, even going so far as to pet a dog someone else was taking out for a stroll. He didn't know the person, but it was a good excuse and made him look casual. He knew he was being followed. Just not by who or why. Still, Sasuke wanted to pretend he didn't know. It was easier that way. Now, where could he go to get his new 'admirer' away from a crowd, but he would have easy maneuverability?

In the end, Sasuke sighs as he stops in front of an alley to tie his shoe. No one else was nearby as far as he could tell. If he had to, a direct magical hit at this range should deal with an attacker nicely. If it was an attacker.

A fire escape above him creaks almost impossibly softly. “I hope you weren’t expecting that to fool anyone, Sasuke. It’s impressive that you managed to sense me and lead me on that little chase. You’ve got good perception.”

"You're a good stalker." Sasuke's eyes narrow as he spins around and directs his gaze upward. "Who the fuck are you and why are you following me?"

Kakashi wags his finger condescendingly. “Now, now, Sasuke. You don’t really expect me to give away all of my secrets just like that, do you?”

"If you don't, you don't actually expect me not to burn your dick to a crisp with a fireball, do you?" He raises an eyebrow.

“You could certainly try.” But Kakashi was quick, he could dodge whatever was thrown at him in the blink of an eye. “How’s your little fox doing?”

"You seem to think that I'm bluffing." Sasuke blows a fireball out of his mouth. "I'm not."

Kakashi disappears in an instant, reappearing behind Sasuke and firmly twisting the young man’s arm behind his back. “Ah ah ah…enough of that. I’m not here to hurt you or Naruto.”

"Then what do you want?" Sasuke didn't believe him for a minute, but short of radiating his magic across his body it was hard to fight in this position. He would if the situation grew more desperate. This was apparently quite the chatty stalker. He might as well use that to his advantage.

“I just want to know a few things without having to go and track down the golden fox for myself. I’ve silenced this alley so no one will hear us.” Kakashi’s left eyes glows a sharp scarlet. “How long has Naruto been here, and is the whole coven in the city?”

"How long have you had brain damage?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow at him. "Because that's the only logical explanation why you think I'm telling you anyway."

“Judging by your quick defense of him, I would say a couple of months, at least. And he’s already befriended you and gotten your loyalty.” Naruto did have a way of worming his way into the hearts of others, Kakashi knew that very well. “Which means he has likely been here since shortly after his birthday.” That was the last time Kakashi had known his location. After that, Naruto had once again fallen off the map. “Tell him that I’m sorry I’m late. I got lost on the path of life, and had to help a lost little kitten find its way home.”

"I'll be sure to tell him he has a psychotic stalker with a potentially unhealthy obsession with kittens." Sasuke scoffs.

Kakashi’s eyes close as he smiles behind his half mask. “That’ll do. He’ll know what it means.” He releases Sasuke’s arm and steps back further into the alley. “And do take care of the little fox. He’s far more reckless than you know.”

Sasuke glares at him before taking off. He makes sure to spend half the day going everywhere, but to Naruto's or his home. Just in case Mr. Kitten Enthusiast followed him.

* * *

 

Naruto grins widely as he takes another picture of the small winter event going on in the city park. With Christmas looming and most of the city getting ready for their holiday, Naruto’s brain was busy planning for the Yule festivities. They’d already worked out all of the food and decorations and stuff, which meant that all he really needed to do now was drag his boyfriend back into the coven’s house for the party.

Until then, though, he was more than happy to do his job and take pictures of the Christmas parties going on all across the city. And whatever other pictures people would pay him to take this season. But nothing creepy, he didn’t do creepy.

His phone jingles with a winter tune, so he pulls in from his pocket and presses it between his ear and his shoulder as he tilts his camera to try and get a better shot of the massive, half-decorated tree sitting in the middle of the park. “Naruto Uzumaki, photographer. How can I help you?”

"Naruto, I need to talk to you." Sasuke barely suppresses a groan at how cheerful the blonde sounds because he knew it wouldn't last. Not after what the youngest Uchiha told him.

“Sasuke?” Naruto frowns slightly in happy confusion. His boyfriend didn’t usually call him while he was out shooting photos. “What’s going on?”

"Probably nothing good. If you're at work, it can wait." Sasuke doubted that would be the case for long though. "I won't lie to you. The sooner we can speak in private, the better off we'll be."

“I’m downtown in the central park right now for the tree-decorating party. There’s no better place to hide a conversation than out in the open.” Naruto found it almost scary what people could talk about in public where barely anyone would listen. Except that he listened. He was a photographer and journalist.

It was a cruel irony really. Naruto was at a party and Sasuke wasn't going to ruin it for his bubbly lover. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Still, he couldn't afford to waste time. Not when people's lives were at stake.

“Alright, I’ll have some hot chocolate waiting for you when you get here.” And Naruto would make sure not to put extra sugar in Sasuke’s. In his own, though…it would be sprinkles and caramel syrup on whipped cream and marshmallows. He could already taste it.

"Good. I'll see you soon." Sasuke sighs as he checks his phone for a route towards the party. Naruto needed to know what he was dealing with.

* * *

 

The moment Sasuke sets foot inside the the park, Naruto appears by his side, holding two mugs of hot chocolate. One looked rather plan, with a sprinkle of cinnamon atop it. The other was a veritable hurricane of sugar. “Hey there, hot stuff, I missed you out here in the cold.”

He takes it, but Sasuke doubted that he'd actually bother with it. They had more important things to worry about. "You've got some sort of stalker who is far too interested in kittens. He has silver hair, but he looks young."

“…” Naruto’s frown deepens as he takes a sip from his hot chocolate. It couldn’t be who he thought it was…could it? “Did he say stuff about getting lost on the path of life, then stopping to help out a kitten?”

"Yeah. He did." Sasuke rolls his eyes, remembering the strange man.

“Shit…” So they really had been found out. Naruto had hoped that maybe they would have a little more time. “…Sorry that you had to deal with him. Kakashi is…an old teacher of mine. He still keeps tabs on me, and I try to keep tabs on him. So I know that he’s playing secret double agent right now.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at that. "How do you know he's actually a double agent in your favor though?"

“Because he’s Kakashi.” Naruto couldn’t really put it into words. He just…knew. “He’s an asshole sometimes, and he can never be on time except to save someone’’s life. But he’s a good guy. My dad was HIS teacher.”

"I still don't trust him and I wouldn't rely on sentimentality in a situation like this, Naruto." Sasuke shakes his head and sighs. It was sweet that Naruto wanted to see the good in people, but who could REALLY say what side a double agent was on. Didn't that by default mean that both sides believed they had reasons to trust him?

“He’s usually the one who warns us that we’ve been found out and need to go on the run again.” Naruto’s expression darkens as he takes another sip of his hot chocolate.

"I see." Sasuke frowns at that. Wouldn't make much sense to warn them, if he was planning a betrayal. "Well, good."

“…Yeah.” Naruto sighs sadly. “And…now he’s here again. He sent you to deliver the warning for him.”

"I take it this means you have to relocate." Sasuke sighs and shakes his had. "It's okay. You do what you have to do to stay safe."

“…And the last time we relocated, we ran to the other side of the planet.” Naruto spares a glance for his boyfriend. “We cut off all contact with the people we used to know. We couldn’t look back, otherwise the people we cared about would be the next to suffer.”

"I want to be with you, but I don't want you to end up dead, Naruto." He frowns at the thought. Sasuke was foolish. He'd gotten too attached. "I don't want anything to happen to you or the others, if you need to run...I understand." He kisses Naruto’s cheek.

“Thanks, but…” Naruto closes his eyes and sighs softly. “I don’t want to keep running, I’ve been running for years. I want the others to be able to settle down and make a life for once. I want them to be happy, not have to move on and leave everything behind every two or three months.”

"Then what's the plan?" Sasuke didn't know whether to feel more worried or relieved at those words.

“Fight? Kill them before they get us?” Naruto didn’t really see any other options at this point. “I usually leave the planning to Gaara and Neji and Shikamaru.”

"Yes, I can see why." Sasuke shakes his head. "You're lucky you're cute. Your strategic skills leave something to be desired."

“Hey!” Naruto pouts like a puppy. “None of us have died yet, now have we? I think I’m doing a pretty good job taking care of everybody.”

Sasuke shakes his head and kisses Naruto. "I suppose that's a good point. You're still cute though."

“Cute and furry!” Naruto laughs and presses a soft kiss back to his boyfriend’s lips. “And I know that I should probably tell you to stay away from me for your own safety, but…I really don’t want to lose you.”

"I don't want to lose you either." Sasuke smiles at him.

“You should still lay low until this is over, though. I don’t know how well I’ll be able to protect you when Danzo comes hunting for me.” Naruto gently caresses Sasuke’s cheek. “Kakashi will run interference for as long as he can, but you’ve already met one of the henchmen. They’re close, and they’re coming.”

"I'll lay low." Sasuke wasn't really sure how much lower he could lay realistically, but he'd do his best. "So will Itachi and Shisui."

“Good.” Naruto presses another whipped cream-smothered kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “Just remember that I love you, okay?”

"I love you too." He finds himself smiling despite the situation. Naruto just had that sort of effect on him. "Just don't get yourself killed."

“I’ll try not to.” Naruto reaches around and slides his hand up to cup Sasuke’s ass. “Just promise that you’ll keep this safe for me. I really like watching it.”

"Amazing, you even manage to be a pervert when your life is at stake." Sasuke snorts.

Naruto cackles happily. “No better time than now to make myself feel alive, ya know?”

"I guess that's true." Sasuke shakes his head as he kisses him again. Ah screw it. you only lived once.

* * *

 

Itachi taps his fingers along the armrest of the couch, his expression pensive and thoughtful as he reflects on the words that had just left his little brother’s mouth. He had sensed that there was more going on than met the eye, but a sinister group in the shadows hunting Naruto and his coven, and a double agent ‘working’ for the other side? He was a professor who dealt with a great deal of speculation, but even his imagination couldn’t have conjured up this sort of tale. Not on such short notice, anyway.

“So, what you are saying is that for reasons that you have thus far kept private, there are figures in the darkness waiting to take out your boyfriend and his coven. And this is assuming that they are either being paid to do so, or your boyfriend is seen to have crossed some sort of moral, ethical, or business-related line that has set off the wrath of the one controlling these immediate threats to Naruto’s life.” Itachi presses his fingers together and gazes steadily at his foolish little brother, sitting in the chair opposite him. “Have I gotten all of that right, Sasuke?”

"I wouldn't say that the other side has any sort of morals or ethics, but essentially." Sasuke eyes Itachi warily. Telling him and Shisui wasn't something he wanted to do, but there was no getting around the fact they deserved to know the truth. They might be in danger just because they were his relatives and Sasuke was dating Naruto.

“I see.” And judging by what he knew of Naruto, Itachi was inclined to agree with Sasuke on that point, even without knowing the full extent of the details that Sasuke clearly did. “And so what do you plan to do, knowing now that Naruto’s life is in danger?”

"I haven't figured that part out yet." Sasuke sighs as he crosses his arms. "Naruto has a plan of sorts."

“And does he plan to run once more, or stay and fight?” Itachi wouldn’t blame the young man if he and his coven decided to run. It appeared to be what had kept them alive thus far. And it worried him to think of what may drive Naruto to decide to fight instead.

"He wants to fight. Naruto is tired of running." Sasuke couldn't blame the blond.

Of course he was tired. Itachi would be too, in the blond’s position. “I wonder why he decided to fight now, and not earlier, or later?” Itachi’s eyes focus acutely on Sasuke. “Did he tell you why?”

"Everyone has their line, Itachi. No one wants to live a hunted animal for their entire life." Sasuke gives him indignant look.

Shisui sighs and shakes his head as he wraps his arms around his fiance. "Itachi, I believe Sasuke is still processing all of it himself. We're more likely to get more detailed answers from Naruto."

“I suppose we will.” Itachi reaches up to softly stroke the back of Shisui’s hand. “Still, I dislike the idea of strangers coming to OUR city and making trouble for my foolish little brother’s foolish little puppy.” It left a bad taste in his mouth.

"I'm right here, Itachi. You know that, right?" Sasuke rolls his eyes.

“Of course, that’s right.” Itachi leans forward and pokes Sasuke squarely in the forehead, a smirk forming on his face. “I’d forgotten that part.”

"He's probably going to hit you." Shisui chuckles as Sasuke growls at his older brother.

“He could try, but we both know that I am the superior martial artist.” Not that Itachi would truly try to hurt Sasuke if the younger man came at him. He knew plenty of relatively painless ways to put his little brother on the ground.

Sasuke bristles and he could feel himself getting hot. It was an instinctive reaction. "I know that, Itachi! I'm not a damn idiot!"

“But it appears that I am not the one who should be the target of his ire.” Itachi shoots Sasuke a knowing look.

"Itachi, perhaps it would be best to let Sasuke think over the situation for now and we can do our own research. His aura is starting to lash out." Shisui frowns. "We've got fire insurance, but I'd rather not have to use it."

“Yes, Sasuke has a great deal of thinking to do.” Itachi removes Shisui’s hands from around his shoulders and takes them into his own hands so that he could more easily stand up and loop his arms around Shisui’s waist. “But I would very much like to to do this ‘research’ you are so eager to push me towards.” Though Itachi was fairly certain that he had an entirely different type in mind.

"As much as I do enjoy it when your mind is in the gutter, I meant actual research." Shisui chuckles as he drags Itachi away for his own safety.

“Oh, but I rather do enjoy our other forms of research.” Itachi laughs lowly and runs Shisui’s hand over his ass. “And I imagine that Sasuke will be busy thinking for the next few hours. So we could certainly put the time to good use.”

Sasuke glowers at Itachi. "You're really asking for a few fireballs aimed at some very uncomfortable places."

Itachi shoots an annoyed look over his shoulder. “And when you decide which course of action you would like to take, we will act on it. For now, we are merely bystanders.” Clearly, Itachi wasn’t the only one in this apartment needing a good unwinding. He tugs Shisui down the hall towards their bedroom. “Now, shall we do our own research before working on our newest pile of homework?”

"You're insatiable." Shisui chuckles as he heads off with Itachi. Well, perhaps a little indulging wouldn't hurt.

“Hn.” Itachi’s smirk could be heard all throughout the apartment. “Don’t lie. You love it.”

"Oh I do love it." He laughs as he kisses him. "That doesn't mean that what I said isn't true."

Itachi’s deep laugh disappears into the kiss as the two disappear into their bedroom. His little brother could angst and fret all he liked until he decided to either cut his losses or step up to the plate. And if he did step up, it was going to be a very hard game.

* * *

 

Naruto knew the rules, hell he’d broken a lot of the rules. But usually, this was a rule that he respected. Only summon the dead during the Feast of Samhain. Simple, isn’t it? You could only see your dearly departed loved ones once a year. That was fair. Right?

Well, sometimes life didn’t work that way, and Naruto knew that he needed help. He’d gone through this chase with Danzo before, but he’d never joined the man on the dance floor. Not until now. And honestly…he had no idea how to handle it. What was he supposed to do? Sure, he’d decided to fight, and more than a few of his cove n were ‘totally up for kicking that old geezer’s ass’. But how were they supposed to protect themselves while they were getting ready? How was Naruto supposed to protect all of them?

That’s why he added yet another broken rule to his list. “Hey, Old Perv, can you hear me?” The drawn circle glows on the floor around Naruto, growing dimmer and brighter almost like it was breathing. It had taken a lot of energy, but he’d broken through a portal, one of those things he’d been told as a child to never do. But he needed advice, and while Jiraiya might be an old perv, he was a wise and experienced old perv. He knew his shit, even if he preferred spying on naked girls all the time.

"Yes, I can hear you. It can't possibly be Samhain again already though." Jiraiya slowly emerges.

Naruto smiles grimly as he watches his giant of a godfather slip through the portal. “Nah, I just thought I’d invite you for Yule, too. The girls are gonna be all dressed up in short Santa dresses.”

He chuckles at that as his eyes sparkle at the suggestion. "Well, that does sound like a lot of fun and all kid, but I doubt that's the only reason you summoned me."

“Yeah…this was the part Naruto had been dreading. “Danzo’s coming. Kakashi ambushed Sasuke earlier to give a warning to me. Coded, of course. The man likes cats a little too much.” It almost made Naruto think that Kakashi was starting to like cats more than dogs.

"That bastard." Jirayia's good mood vanishes in the blink of an eye. "Well, how can I help?" Clearly, Naruto must have needed help or else he wouldn't resort to summoning him when it wasn't Samhain.

It was dumb and Naruto knew it, but he couldn’t handle hiding like a scared dog anymore. “We’re going to stand and fight. We’ve run all over the world, and now we’re right on the opposite side and he still won’t leave us alone. So we’re going to dig in our heels and fight them off. Until none of them are left standing.”

"Well, I admire your spirit, Kid." Jirayia just wasn't sure how such a battle would end, but still there was something he could do for him. "Your father had a spell book tucked away for a rainy day. I haven't told you about it because it requires a lot of magic to use those sorts of spells and the consequences of not casting them properly can be most severe, but I believe you're ready."

“A spellbook?” Naruto hadn’t heard of his dad having one of those hidden away before. “But the old house back in Japan got ransacked when they were looking for me.” It was right before the first time he ran. Hell, it was the reason that he ran in the first place.

Jiraiya grins at his godson. "Minato kept a few residences. He wouldn't keep such a valuable item in the place he lived for that very reason. There is an abandoned house relatively nearby that contains the spell book."

“Near here?” How was that possible? Naruto had no idea that his dad had a place here, and his dad couldn’t have known that Naruto was going to end up running to Konoha when the coven packed up and left Japan for their whirlwind tour of the world.

"If I remember correctly 146 South Avenue. It has a red and gold cover. I'm afraid I must go now, Naruto. I can already feel the pull to the other side." He looks at him apologetically.

Naruto smiles sadly. “Thanks a lot Old Perv. Try not to wander around too far next Samhain. I don’t wanna think you aren’t coming.”

"Of course." With that being said, he disappears. Almost as if he was never really there.

The blond fox sighs and backs away from where the portal appeared. His energy spent, he sits down against the wall, his head laying on his arms and resting over his knees. He hoped that this book would help, because if it didn’t, if he couldn’t figure out whatever was in it, or if it turned out that it wasn’t there anymore, then he could very well be leading his friends to their doom.


End file.
